


Rainbow Academy

by Arytra



Category: Power Rangers
Genre: Multi, Team Bonding, Team as Family, mentions of sex with a minor
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-08-15
Updated: 2016-07-30
Packaged: 2017-12-23 13:27:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 24
Words: 89,830
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/927003
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Arytra/pseuds/Arytra
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Thanks to Conner's ill made comment, Kira ends up headmistress of the newly created Rainbow Academy, the academy who will teach students how to be Power Rangers.  With Conner at her side, her inner circle of staff behind her, and a horde of teachers and students to wrangle, Kira will try to pull the idea together and give the world the best Power Rangers they've ever seen.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

Kira was absolutely certain that the whole mess was Conner’s fault. First of all, for her team, that seemed to be the general way of things. Second, it really was his fault because he was the one who opened his big mouth. In fact, in the future, he was not allowed to talk at Ranger Reunions, he certainly wasn’t allowed to talk to people his own age there, and she was just going to have to use her pterascream if he didn’t get the hint. Instead, he’d mentioned that their mentor had been a former Ranger. He told the others that Tommy Oliver had known stuff because of that background. He was the reason this whole mess existed.

Conner was absolutely certain that the whole mess was Tommy’s fault. After all, if he hadn’t decided to create Jurassic Park: the Power Ranger edition, then the four of them wouldn’t have become Power Rangers, Tommy wouldn’t have led them, and he wouldn’t have made a possibly bad call in telling other Power Rangers about it. So, even if he technically got the whole thing started, it was Tommy’s fault. The older Rangers would agree with him on that. Most of the first Rangers said it was always Tommy’s fault no matter what. He was sticking by that clause.

Tommy was absolutely certain that the whole mess was Andros, Jason, and a bit of T.J.’s faults. After all, they put the idea of being a mentor in his head to begin with and if they hadn’t done that, he probably wouldn’t have created the Dino Thunder Rangers. He’d been perfectly happy failing as a racecar driver. He would have blamed Hayley too for encouraging him, but he wasn’t stupid enough to anger his Tech. As it was, bachelor parties should be banned forever especially when they’re for Red Power Rangers run by a Kerovian. All it ever leads to is horrible decisions.

Andros, Jason, and T.J. were absolutely certain that the whole mess was Tommy’s fault. Note the “It’s always Tommy’s fault” clause for a reason. The other Rangers were quick to agree and Tommy pouted for about a week.

Regardless of whose fault it was or wasn’t, the fact remained that the idea hadn’t just dissipated after the Reunion was over. After Conner’s comment, there had been rumblings that while their mentors had been great, it might have been nice to have the experience of former Rangers to help out. It was Kira who had tried to quiet them. “All of us did great. The other Power Rangers haven’t gotten involved and we weren’t the only team to win. We all did!”

“Maybe,” Dax agreed. “But it would have been great to have people who could help!”

“We can’t get involved in other Ranger’s battles unless we have to,” Kira argued. She glanced over at Tori who quickly stood up.

“Kira’s right. They have to do it on their own,” she said, folding her arms as she looked at all of them. The others quieted down for a moment until Casey looked thoughtful over that.

“What if it wasn’t during the actual fight,” he asked. They all turned and looked at him. “What if we taught them before they became Rangers?”

Dustin’s eyes lit up. “Dude, like our school?”

“Right!” Casey agreed. Nick looked doubtful.

“Who would the students be? Do we just randomly pick kids?” He asked. Tyzonn looked over from where he sat with his team.

“I’ve heard that there is something that connects a Ranger to the grid. Which is why the Power has to accept you,” he said. “I can ask Zhane and Andros about it. They’d probably understand better than that.”

“I think you might want to actually set up the school first,” Cam said sardonically.

“Cam’s right. It takes a lot of work to run a school,” she said and smiled at Cam. “So I’ve been told.”

“We’d need teachers, a curriculum, a school building,” Kira continued as she tried to continue shutting down the idea. “Not to mention a place to put all of it.”

“I don’t think I’d be great at teaching, but I can see about getting us the land,” Mack said. Kira turned on him and glared. He looked a bit sheepish, but smiled at her anyway until she dropped it. Unfortunately for Kira, that got the rest of them started. Talks of magic, ninja skills, and just plain construction filled the air. Kira called out to get their attention.

“First off, while land would be great, we’d need somewhere hidden. Second, I don’t think anyone here even has architect knowledge. Third, yelling around your ideas is giving me a headache,” Kira scolded. Ethan grinned.

“So they should write them down instead?” He asked.

“Better than yelling out,” she answered.

“And that way they’ll remember it later,” Ethan said, getting pleasure out of antagonizing her a bit as all Dino Thunder teammates did. She glared at him, but he just grinned back. To her horror, Trent was even trying to keep a straight face. He gave her a shrug, still covering his mouth. Her whole team was against her. Well, Conner wasn’t, but he was trying to be quiet in the corner so he didn’t give out any more ideas. To make matters worse, she watched as Rose pulled out some paper for them all to write on and everyone in the room started to make notes.

“Guys, even if we do manage to get a building up and running, we need teachers and classes and someone to organize everything! Guys!” Kira said, trying to get their attention. To her satisfaction, they all looked up at her. “We all have lives, remember?”

“Once a Ranger,” Mack argued.

“Always a Ranger,” the rest of them finished with him. She held back her groan and just held her head. Once the reunion was over, they’d get back to their lives and forget this whole thing had ever happened. She just had to wait until then.

***

The first email came from Mack. She probably shouldn’t have been surprised by that, but she still blinked a couple of times when she opened it. It was directly to her, but the others had been CCed in. All it read was “Got it.” Kira cursed.

The second email was from Cam and Rose who had created their own email service that could easily be kept out of government and hacker’s hands so that they could speak freely. “Here. Use this from now on. No sense in us all being outed. –Cam”. Kira used all of the curse words she could think of.

The third email was actually from Chip. “Udonna, Daggeron, and Leanbow said that we can help hide it and they’ll help! So, no matter where Mack got the land, we can hide it from muggles! Hugs, Chip.” Kira got online and found curse words in other languages she could use.

The next one made her want to swear, but she was too busy like the others assuring the writer that they had every right to be involved in the conversation. “I apologize for assuming that I’m involved in this, but it was CCed to me as well so I thought I should mention some possible ideas for classes other than ones you’ve probably thought of? Diplomacy, Languages, and Planetary (including Earth’s history that isn’t taught in schools) History might be useful? I hope it is alright to bring it up. I hope it’s able to succeed. – Camille”. 

“I call teaching diplomacy! All of them will have their own version of Plan Xander when I’m done! -Xander.” Kira gave up swearing. She just put her head in left hand and scrolled down with her other hand. Slowly, classes began to be mentioned and volunteers claimed them. Kira finally sat down at the computer.

“Guys? You can’t just volunteer. You need to show you can actually teach it. Plus, we need to make a good list of the different classes and we still need someone to head this thing. –Kira.” She nodded to herself and went back to writing her music. To her surprise, her email stayed silent for a few hours. Finally, she heard the ping. She glanced at it and saw Tori’s name on it before she opened it.

“Kira, we thought you knew. There’s a reason why everything is going to you. You were voted in as headmistress. For the record, I am so sorry. –Tori.” Kira stared at the email. She stared at it some more. Part of her had already know, but seeing it written down made it more real. She brought up her email, ready to absolutely chew them out for drafting her before she stepped down, but Mack’s words when she mentioned they all had lives ran through her head. Once a Ranger, Always a Ranger. She grumbled, grabbed four cookies, and sat back down at her computer.

“We’re taking this slow. Potential teachers, come up with a syllabus and curriculum for your class. Mack, see if you can get that land. Mystic Force, I’m counting on you guys to hide it as soon as the deed’s signed. I don’t care what you do, but we can’t have civilians walking into it. Chip, stop calling them muggles. The rest of you, email me your ideas. I’ll sort through them. Thank you, Cam and Rose for setting up the email. Let’s get to work. –Kira.” She sat back, nodding at it before sending out one without CCing everyone else. She opened up the email and wrote one sentence. “Conner McKnight, you are so drafted.”


	2. Chapter 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kira isn't getting dragged down alone and she's not only taking Conner with her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Conner's nickname for Kira's staff is all Akume's fault. Just wanted that stated.

Kira headed to the Wind Academy with her head up high and a look of purpose on her face. She’d drafted Conner extremely quickly which he’d accepted, mostly because he knew he didn’t have a choice and it would just be easier to go along with his teammate. Ethan and Trent had run before she could do the same to them, but she knew if she needed them, they’d be there. They were just avoiding her temper. While the other Rangers were trying to get things managed, she was trying to get the members of her staff that weren’t teachers. She wasn’t stupid. It wasn’t just teachers that made a school after all.

She could remember about where to do the proverbial knock on the door for the academy and waited. She wasn’t surprised when one of the students came and looked at her in surprise. Still, he pulled himself together and looked her straight in the eye. “Sensei Watanabe sent me with a message,” he said. She nodded and motioned for him to continue. “No.”

“No?” She asked, trying to keep her temper. It wasn’t the kid’s fault. “What does he mean ‘no’?”

The kid licked his lips, still standing tall as he continued. “He says that Sensei Hanson is a valued member of the school and that you can’t have her just because you were drafted,” he said before looking at her in confusion. “Drafted for what?”

“Don’t worry about it,” she assured him. “Look, I don’t care what Cam says. Can you let me in so I can talk to T- Sensei Hanson?”

“I’m not supposed to,” he said. “Sensei Watanabe said that too.”

“Okay, can you go get Sensei Hanson so I can talk to her?” She tried again. The kid thought about it and nodded, racing back inside. Presumably, he didn’t want to be caught in the middle and she couldn’t blame him for that. She waited patiently, looking at the waterfall when she felt the wind next to her increase a bit. She turned toward Tori, noting that the student wasn’t with her meaning she didn’t have to be as professional as she had been. Tori, for her part, smiled at her before both of them gave the other a quick hug and Tori motioned to a log to sit down on.

“Cam’s an ass,” Kira said.

“I know,” Tori assured her. “He just wants me to stay here.”

“I need you, Tori,” Kira said, managing not to whine. She felt pretty good about herself for that. Tori just let Kira just go without interrupting. “I don’t know how to run a school. I can barely wrangle you lot. If I could, I wouldn’t have been drafted. I need someone who has been a teacher, who can stay calm, who can balance me because I’m going to want to kill them.”

“Probably twice a week if Cam is any indication of a head teacher,” Tori agreed. “But I’m a ninja, Kira.”

“You’re also a Ranger, Tori. And like me, you’re an active Ranger,” she reminded her friend. “I need you, Tori.”

Tori was quiet for a minute before she looked back up. “Let me talk to Cam and I’ll have to get a replacement in place before I go.”

“I can live with that,” Kira said. “So you’ll do it?”

“I’ll do it,” she said. “I’m a Power Ranger and so is Cam. I just need to remind him of that.”

Tori nodded to Kira, gave her another quick hug, and dashed back through the waterfall, leaving Kira on her own. The Yellow Dino Thunder Ranger headed back down the path toward where she’d left Conner and her car. He’d been remarkably easy-going about driving her around. Sure enough, he was kicking around a soccer ball as he waited. He had a phone up to his ear and was nodding as he talked until he saw her coming when he hung up and grinned. “Trent and Ethan say hi.”

“Where are they, Conner?” She asked.

“They told me not to tell, but since they ditched us… New York,” he answered before looking serious. “Did you get her?”

“I got her,” she said. “Barely. Cam is going to be in a bad mood.”

“Cam is always in a bad mood and he always looks like I’m going to screw up.”

“That’s because you look like your brother,” Kira reminded him. Conner looked like he was going to defend Erik, but shrugged instead.

“True,” he decided. “So, where to next?”

“I need my school nurse,” she said.

“Do we even know any nurses or doctors or people who heal things? Who we’re willing to involve?” He asked.

“I’m drafting Madison,” she answered.

“Is she a healer?” He asked.

“She knows herbs, some medical first aid, and is gentle. She’ll work,” she answered.

“Kira, Xander and Chip already volunteered. Is it a good idea to take Madison out of Briarwood too?” He asked.

“It’ll be fine. They’ll have Nick, Vida, Daggeron, Leanbow, and Udonna. Not to mention Clare,” she answered. “So, to Briarwood!”

“Kira…”

“Drive,” she said, getting in the front seat and looking at him. Conner rolled his eyes, but did as she commanded. He pulled out and headed in the opposite direction toward Briarwood.

***

It always surprised Kira at how much Briarwood was willing to break the proverbial masquerade. Yet, the few times she’d gone to visit Xander were always the same: Fairy creatures and humans living in harmony. She nearly paused for a moment as she wondered if the fairy creatures ran back and locked their doors after the mutants were created in the future. She also wondered if the humans joined them. She tried to ignore her questions if they had been hurt or involved in any way since that line of thinking wouldn’t help her right now. She made a note to mention it to the Mystic Force Rangers when she wasn’t drafting one of their own as a nurse.

She headed in to the Rock-Porium, Conner on her heels this time. She turned to see why, but the moment they were through the door, he was over by Xander and Chip trading notes. She rolled her eyes, waved to Vida, before heading in to find Madison. Mystic Blue was organizing one of the bins when Kira came up to her. Madison immediately shook her head. “No, Kira. I’m not a teacher. I don’t want to stand up in front of children like that.”

Kira smiled a bit. “And I would never ask you to,” she assured her. “I know how you feel about crowds, Madison.”

“Then why are you here? Xander and Chip are still working on their ideas…” she started but Kira cut her off.

“I still need you,” she said. Madison blinked. “I need a nurse, Madison, and you’re the closest we’ve got to a healer.”

“I only know what Udonna and Clare taught me,” she protested.

“Best we’ve got,” Kira repeated herself. “We can’t ask a civilian to do it and we agreed that this was something we wanted to keep with the younger generations since the older ones have their own careers. Remember?”

“I remember,” Madison said with a sigh. It hadn’t helped that she’d been an advocator for leaving the elder Rangers alone since they all had careers, their own lives, and in some cases, children. “I can look up some more healing spells and herbs, I guess.”

“So you’ll do it?” Kira asked. Madison gave a small smile.

“What will you do if I say no?” She teased. Kira looked at her seriously.

“Beg,” she answered. “Don’t make me beg, Madison.”

“I’ll do it,” Madison said. “I’ll tell Toby I’m leaving with the guys. He’ll understand.”

“Thanks, Madison. I owe you one,” Kira said, Madison gently took her hands.

“No you don’t,” she assured her. She looked over Kira’s shoulder. “Xander, Chip, I’m coming with you guys!”

Both boys looked over in surprise. Kira shrugged. “I got us a nurse.”

Conner smirked. “Never doubted you would,” he said. When Chip and Xander turned to him, Conner shrugged. “I’ve been friends with Kira since high school. If she wants something, she’ll get it. So, oh great leader, where to next?”

“You have to go, Mate?” Xander asked, looking a bit disappointed. No one could match Xander in his flirting as well as Conner could and the two men enjoyed hanging out for that reason. Conner looked sheepish.

“Since this is my fault, according to Miss Headmistress, I’m a chauffer until she gets everyone,” he said.

“Didn’t you tell us to be quiet during the whole thing?” Chip said. “I saw you glancing over at Kira before trying to shush everyone.”

“I still caused the idea,” Conner explained. He leaned in to stage whisper while absolutely knowing Kira could hear him. “I think she’s just lonely.”

“Conner!” Kira snapped. He grinned back at her. She moved to say something else, but she could see the understanding in his eyes and backed down. Conner, more than anyone else, seemed to be genuinely sorry for her being caught up as headmistress. She gave him a quick nod before turning back to Madison. “I’ll let you know when I need you to come.”

“I’ll be ready,” Madison promised. Kira nodded and turned her attention to Xander and Chip.

“You two! Finish your presentations soon,” she said before motioning to Conner and heading out the door. Conner turned to look at the others.

“She means it was good to see you and she looks forward to seeing what you come up with. She just hasn’t slept in three days and picked up Conneritis,” he said.

“Conneritis?” Chip asked.

“Temporarily losing all of your tact and not thinking about what you’re saying. Ethan coined it,” Conner said, brushing it off. They both looked at him to judge if he was upset by it, but Conner had long ago accepted it even though he’d gotten much better over the years. It was a joke for them. “Don’t worry. She’ll get some sleep once we finish tracking down everyone she wants to draft. So, you’ll get your apology email then.”

“Conner!” Kira called from outside. He grinned at them, waved and headed out the door. “What took you so long?”

“Sorry, Boss,” he said sardonically. She glared at him. “What?”

She sighed and rolled her eyes. “Let’s go.”

“Where to?”

“I need Will.”

“Why?”

“Because I’m running a school that has kids that are training to be Power Rangers and we’re going to end up with some sixths.”

“So?”

“Conner, Ethan threatened to lock you in a closet if you didn’t calm down when it came to Trent. Wes and Eric came to blows. Hunter and Blake beat up Cam. And that’s not including Nick and Vida nearly getting into some major brawls. I want someone who can break them up, but that’s any of us. What I need is someone who can constantly keep an eye on them and then break them up,” Kira explained.

“You want a spy,” Conner corrected her.

“Pretty sure that’s what I just said.”

***

Will had been harder to find than the others. Unlike Madison and Tori who had tended to stay by their teammates, Operation Overdrive had had jobs before they became Rangers and they went back to those jobs afterward. Most of them were easy to find since Tyzonn of all people kept up with Kira after the whole thing started, but Will was the enigma. This was because his job tended to keep him more hidden and his jobs had picked up since he had been a Ranger, at least in the testing department. That said, most people didn’t want anyone to know that they felt they needed to test their security, so Will tended to stay under the radar. Fortunately, Rose had no problem figuring out where her old teammate ran to and gave the information to Kira easily.

She knew better than to interrupt any of her recruits while they were on a job, so she waited until he finished and was enjoying some coffee at a nearby café before Conner and she headed toward him and sat down. Will looked up at them in surprise and snorted. “Really, Kira? Me? Teaching?”

“Not why I’m here, Will,” Kira assured him. Conner smoothly distracted the waitress and gave her two orders for Kira and him so that she wouldn’t overhear anything. “I want your skills.”

“You want me to test your security?” He asked. She shook her head.

“I want you to be my security,” she answered. “I want you to keep things out that aren’t supposed to be there and I want you to stop any fights before it’s a problem.”

“You think the rug-rats are going to be trouble?” He asked. She thought about it for a minute.

“How was your team when they first started?” She asked.

“Fine,” he answered.

“And integrating Tyzonn?”

“A little weird, but okay. Mack handled it for the most part.”

“Well, it doesn’t always work that way and I’m worried about rivalries,” she explained. “Verbal arguments we can keep an eye on. I’m not putting up with bullying, but I’m willing to let them verbally spar with each other. It’s what makes a team function at times. Besides, how would the Wind Rangers function if Cam wasn’t being sarcastic? Hell, my own group runs on jabbing at each other.”

“That I get,” Will assured her.

“But I need someone who can get involved and make sure no one gets hurt,” she explained. “Or at least they get less hurt.”

“You think it’s going to be an issue?”

“I think the Power will do what it can, but we’re going to mess up. There’s going to be a kid that started out like a good choice and turns out to be a jerk,” Kira explained. “Until they have the morpher in their hand, we need to keep an eye on them.”

Will sat back in his seat before nodding. “I can do that,” he said. “When do you need me by?”

“Not sure. I’d like to have you around when we’re building the stupid thing so that you can put in any opinions,” she assured him. “I’ll let you know when I know.”

Will nodded, eating some of his sandwich as the other two got their own meals. After he’d finished half of it, he looked Kira over again and frowned. “When was the last time you slept?”

“Three days ago,” Conner said before Kira could answered. She glared at him. “It’s true.”

“Anyone else left on your drafting list?” He asked.

“Ronny,” Kira answered. Will nodded.

“Tell you what, I’ll find her and send her your way. Go home, get some sleep, try to relax.”

Before Kira could try to object, Conner cut in. “Sounds good,” he said. When Kira looked at him, he smiled a bit. “You’re tired, I’m tired, and we’ll still get her, Kira. Mafia bosses need to relax too.”

“Mafia?” Both Kira and Will exclaimed, though Kira’s was in horror while Will sounded amused.

“That’s what I’ve been calling this in my head,” Conner explained. “Kira’s Mafia. I keep thinking of Will as ‘The Enforcer’.”

“Conner…” Kira growled.

“What’s Tori?” Will asked.

“The Underboss,” Conner said. “Just like Kira is ‘The Boss’.”

“Conner!” Kira said again before pausing. “Not Don?”

“Boss sounds cooler. Plus it goes better with Tori’s,” he answered, waving his hand dismissively. “And ‘nurse’ or not, Madison is so Capo of the Healers.”

“How do you know so much about the mafia, Conner?” Kira asked. Conner shrugged.

“I went to community college. There was a class on it. It filled one of my requirements,” he answered.

“So what are you?” Will asked. 

“The consigliere,” Kira answered. They both turned to look at her. “I’m not saying it again.”

Will snickered and Conner grinned. Kira just rolled her eyes at both of them as she fought the urge to smack Conner upside the head for the stupid idea. What worried her was the fact that it was going to catch on. Because Conner was involved and that was the way her world worked.

***

Sure enough, Ronny showed up four days after she’d talked to Will with a grin and keys in her hand. She practically ran into Hayley’s and took a seat near Conner and Kira. “So, Boss, what did you want me to do?” She asked with a grin. Kira gave Conner a look that swore she’d kill him later, but it wasn’t very effective considering Conner shrugged it off. She wondered if she was using it too much on him lately.

“We’re not a mafia,” she said to Ronny in a scolding manner. Ronny shrugged.

“Sure thing, Boss,” Ronny said cheerfully. Kira tried not to sigh.

“We’re going to need a way to get the kids to and from the school,” Kira explained, giving up for the moment on trying to put a stop to the mafia analogy. She’d fix it later. “We’re working on the design, but I want you to drive it.”

Conner could see the growing disappointment and quickly jumped in. “It’s not like a school bus, Ronny,” he assured her. “Rose and Cam are working on it and since Kira loves dragging us all down with her, she probably wouldn’t mind you nagging them with your own ideas.”

Ronny looked a bit more at ease with that. “Why me?”

“Because between the four of them, Trent, Ethan, Chip, and Dustin have read way too many comics and they brought up that superhero schools are always under attack which made Boss Lady here paranoid,” Conner explained.

“Stop helping, Conner,” Kira said. “And stop calling me that.”

“Which part? Boss or lady?”

“Both.”

“But then how will people know you’re running the…”

“There is no mafia!” She yelled, glaring at Conner who tried and failed to look contrite. She counted to ten before looking back at Ronny. “What he means is, I’d like a skilled driver to get the kids out of danger if it becomes an issue. And I thought of you.”

“Count me in!” Ronny said. “Don’t worry, Boss Lady. I got this.”

“Guys…” Kira said, holding her head. She looked up to see both of them snickering. She wondered exactly how far she could get heading this school if she was down one teacher and bus driver. That and knowing how displeased Hayley would be if she got blood on the furniture were the only thing that saved them both.


	3. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tommy finds out what they're up to and the teachers of the academy are chosen.

Kira strummed her guitar and made another note as she sat quietly for a few minutes. They hadn’t expected the other Rangers to find out quite so fast about their idea. She didn’t want to be the spokesperson, but most of her generation of Power Rangers were still in too much awe of her mentor to do a good job explaining. Those who would have been fine at it insisted that the headmistress should handle it. Fortunately, Conner had quickly called up Ethan and Trent and insisted that they get back before she needed to face Tommy. After hearing what was going on, both runners had gotten serious and quickly made their way home. There was a “no drafting” truce on the house for the moment, though Ethan did admit that he’d been helping Cam and Rose with some of their projects. Trent didn’t say anything, but Kira had heard from Andrew Hartford that the Mercer household was helping to pay for things.

She felt Ethan’s hand on her back and looked up at him. “Conner’s getting the car.”

“He does know he doesn’t have to, right?” She asked, feeling a bit bad about how she’d been treating him.

“I don’t think he minds,” Ethan assured her. “Trent made you some brownies and I already grabbed some of your favorite music.”

“I love you guys,” she muttered as she hugged him, putting her hand in his shirt. “Don’t leave me again.”

“Don’t draft us and we’ll think about it,” Trent said as he came in and took her from Ethan as his voice softened. “It’ll be okay, Kira. He just wants to know what’s going on.”

“He wants to know why we didn’t involve him,” Conner corrected as he headed in the door, swinging the keys in one hand. “You know Doctor O. He doesn’t like not being involved in Ranger stuff.”

“We’ll just give him the reason we all came up with,” Trent said quietly.

“Except that we’re talking to a Power Ranger who couldn’t get out of the world,” Kira said, starting to close in on herself. “Maybe this whole thing was a bad idea.”

“I have Tori on speed dial,” Conner warned. “I will call her and have her talk you down.”

Ethan blinked. “What have you two been up to?”

“Well, since our Blue took off, Tori’s been filling in,” Conner said, folding his arms and glaring at Ethan. “She also hasn’t abandoned me.”

“We said we were sorry,” Trent said before turning back to his female teammate. “It’ll be fine, Kira.”

“We need to get going,” Conner said gently, leading her out to the car. The four of them headed toward their former mentor’s house and took a breath before Conner knocked. Kira was in charge of the school, but Conner was still the Red Ranger of Dino Thunder. They heard their former teacher call them in and headed in together. Tommy glanced up from where he was sitting and looked them all over.

“Mind telling me why I heard about this from Anton Mercer?” He asked. Trent scowled.

“Because I forgot to say ‘Doctor O doesn’t know. Please don’t tell him’?” Trent answered. Tommy gave him a look and Kira stepped forward.

“We came up with an idea and we didn’t want all of you to have to choose between your jobs and our plan,” she answered. “That’s why we didn’t tell you.”

“When were you going to let me know?” Tommy asked.

“Once it was set up,” Kira answered.

“It wasn’t your place to decide whether or not we should have to make that choice, Kira,” Tommy scolded. Kira looked a little perturbed and Conner quickly took over.

“With all due respect, Doctor O, it was our idea,” he said. “We could decide who we want for what part and we need Kira in charge.”

“You drafted me.”

“You love it,” he assured her, ignoring the soured look she gave him. He also ignored the impressed looks on Ethan and Trent’s faces. “Reefside needs you here. Elsa probably doesn’t want her science teacher to disappear. We know we could go to you guys for help, but we got this.”

“How are you keeping it hidden?” He questioned.

“Mystic Force Rangers are hiding it with magic,” Conner answered.

“The land for it?”

“Andrew Hartford bought it,” answered Trent.

“How are you going to get the students there?”

“Trust me. We’ve got that covered,” Ethan said with a grin that made Kira worry about what exactly Ronny would be driving. She knew what she’d promised the other woman, but Ethan’s grin made her hope that she hadn’t given them permission to go too overboard.

“Teachers?”

“It’s a Ranger school run by former Power Rangers. Trust me, we’ll have a great staff,” Kira assured him, praying that the wannabe teachers actually came up with decent plans. Maybe if they didn’t put their all into it, she could sic Will on them. “Plus I’ll have Conner, Tori, Madison, Will, and Ronny as support staff.”

“Support staff?” Tommy asked and Conner grinned.

“Yeah! Kira’s the Boss, but the rest of her mafia…”

“Mafia!” Tommy exclaimed, looking at Kira. She noticed that Ethan and Trent were both eying her as well. “Kira…”

“It’s Conner’s nickname,” she explained. “He has issues.”

“I do not.”

“You nicknamed my entire staff to have mafia positions.”

“It fits.”

“You know, Will loves that ‘Enforcer’ position you gave him. He uses it and then Ronny gets upset that she didn’t have one, so I told her that I’d give her one the minute I could think of one. Tori laughed, Madison smiled, and they’ve all started calling me “Boss”. This is all your fault, Conner,” she said, ignoring how Ethan and Trent were nearly killing themselves trying not to laugh out loud.

“It fits and I gave Ronny her nickname of ‘The Watcher’ after I caught her working with Will,” Conner said. Kira threw her arms in the air and sat down, head in her hands. She felt someone sit down next to her and looked up to see Tommy looking at her with sympathy.

“Doctor O? Does it get easier?” She asked. He paused for a minute and pulled her to him.

“No,” he said honestly. “But you get better at pretending it does. You’ll be fine, Kira.”

“Then why were you so worried about it?” She asked, not caring that she was acting like she was in high school again. She felt like she was in high school again. He gave her a quick squeeze.

“Because sometimes I still think of you guys as the kids who broke into my house and became Power Rangers. I forget that you’re all adults and can make your own choices,” he said, looking a little sheepish. “Just like I forgot when Kira got recalled.”

Conner snickered, Ethan and Trent not too far behind him as Kira just sighed. “Getting a call from Rocky at two in the morning saying ‘Can you call off your crazy mentor? I’m trying to sleep and listening to him try to kill Adam is keeping me awake’ wasn’t the best memory of my life.”

“I was worried he pushed you into it,” Tommy muttered. “I apologized.”

Kira rolled her eyes, but let it go. She’s hurried there when Rocky had called. Tommy had been adamant that Adam had been involved in some way and so it was his fault. Kira had insisted she could take care of herself, Tommy had assured her that he just didn’t want her locked into the life like he was, and Rocky had found the whole thing so adorable he forgot about the sleep he had wanted to get and instead made them all hot chocolate so they could exchange stories. Adam had assured Tommy that he understood and that he would never hurt any of Tommy’s students. Kira looked at him. “We’ll be okay. Honest. And if we get in over our heads, we’ll come to you for help.”

“Can you at least let me know how things are going?” He asked.

“I’ll give you a weekly report,” she assured him. He looked surprised.

“Not monthly?”

“Doctor O, if I try for anything more than a week, you’ll agree to it and drive Hayley crazy until she agrees to hack for you and find out what we’re doing which will just upset Ethan, Cam, and Rose. They’ll go into a security frenzy and I won’t get things I need done,” she explained. “So it’s easier on everyone if I just say ‘weekly’.”

Tommy and Ethan both looked a little embarrassed while Trent and Conner were snickering. Kira just folded her arms and gave them a telling look. Tommy looked at the ground and then back at her, smiling as he did so before looking over at Conner with a conspiratorial look. “You’re right. She is the Boss.”

“I know!” Conner said, his eyes lit up in amusement. Kira groaned and pushed away from her teacher, but they could all see the relief in her eyes. Tommy looked at her seriously.

“You need me, I’m there. I’ll let the others know,” he said. “Just so I know, whose fault is this anyway?”

“Conner’s,” Kira answered as Conner answered with “Yours.”

Tommy sighed. “Maybe you should tell me the whole story.”

***

After Tommy told them, the other Rangers offered basic help. Lightspeed, for instance, offered their own engineers and architects to help build the school which Kira quickly signed off on. For the most part, Tommy simply kept them informed as Kira kept him informed so that the entire Power Ranger world would know what was going on.

Kira headed toward the field next to the building and sat down as she waited. Once the school was on its way to being built, she’d started to try to have a plan ready which was why she was waiting in a field for the rest of her party to arrive. Madison was first, which Kira wasn’t shocked over. The young witch sat down across from Kira and smiled. “It’s starting to take shape,” Madison said.

“It is,” Kira agreed. “I told them to give you a good office. We can fill it later.”

“Thank you,” Madison said. “Kira, do you think this is going to work? Can we really pull this off?”

“I’d like to think so, but we’ll find out today.” Madison nodded at the response and they were both quiet again for the moment until they heard the two cars coming. Kira groaned as she recognized Conner’s car coming at the same speed as a yellow one. Madison moved her head to the side, leaning into Kira.

“Are they racing?” She asked.

“Yes,” Kira said, groaning as she pulled herself to her feet. “I’m going to kill them both.”

“I wouldn’t,” Madison said, still watching them. She did manage to catch Kira’s incredulous look. “Then you’ll have to replace them.”

“How are your healing spells going?” Kira asked, gritting her teeth as the two cars seemed to pass whatever line they’d made up as a goal and were slowing down as they came in. Ronny was out of her car first, bounding over to Conner and clasping his arm. Conner grinned back at her, the two of them in animated discussion before they saw Kira. “You decided to drag race?! I’m taking you two on as faculty and you two are drag racing?!”

“Only in the field area,” Conner protested. “Not around people. And not all of us got our powers back, Boss.”

She glared at his inflection. “That doesn’t mean you two should be racing!”

“Who won?” Madison asked from her seat.

“Madison, don’t encourage them!” Kira said. They were all against her. Her inner circle, her mafia as Conner called it, and they were all against her.

“Too close to call,” Ronny answered before grinning at Conner. “But get me on a racing track…”

“I’m not taking that bet,” Conner said with a laugh.

“No gambling! Set better examples!” Kira said.

“Why?”

“For the children, Conner.”

“Unless you’re hiding them, I don’t think they’re here yet. And if you are hiding them, they think it was awesome too,” Conner told her.

“That’s the problem, Conner! That they would think it was awesome!” Kira argued. “Madison?”

“Stop encouraging the imaginary children to race,” Madison said calmly. Kira turned and looked at her and Madison nodded. “And no teaching the fake children to gamble.”

“Can we teach the real children to gamble?” Ronny teased. Madison pretended to think about it.

“Better not. We don’t need Kira to pterascream us all deaf,” she answered. “Xander warned me about that.”

“I’ll second that,” Tori said as she headed up the way. Kira sighed.

“You did the ninja thing, didn’t you?” She said.

“Only in the field,” she assured her. “I took the van for most of it. Calm down, Kira.”

“I can’t calm down. You’re all out to get me,” Kira muttered. Tori turned a stern look on the remaining three.

“Okay. Who broke our headmistress?” She asked, folding her arms. “And how did you break her?”

“Conner and Ronny were drag racing, gambling, and setting a bad example for imaginary kids,” Madison answered. Tori blinked a couple of times, thought it over, and shrugged.

“Conner, Ronny, don’t do it again,” she said, not about to repeat what Madison had said. Kira gave her a thankful look and Tori patted her shoulder. “Where’s Will?”

“On his way. He was having to finish up a job when I called,” Kira answered. “He said that he wouldn’t be any good at this part, but I insisted he come.”

“Why?” Ronny asked.

“Because I disagree and I want all of you here,” she answered. They all exchanged shrugs before nodding. Kira sat back, collecting herself, before picking up the papers on the ground. She set them on her lap and looked at the others. “Everyone finally finished their class syllabus and curriculum outlines. I have to admit. They look pretty good.”

“What did you need us here for?” Madison asked.

“I want to make sure they sound good to you guys too. I don’t know what I’m doing, so I figure if we all agree on it, it’ll be fine,” she answered. “Or at least better than if I just decided on my own.”

“You’d think more of us would have chosen careers as teachers,” Conner said. “What are you going to do after we decide?”

“Send them to Elsa,” Kira answered. “She’s the only principal I know and since she stopped being evil, she’s a pretty good one.”

“Alright,” Will said as he headed over to them. “Lay it on us.”

“You told him why we’re here?” Conner asked, sounding a bit hurt. Kira gave him an apologetic look.

“Sorry, Conner,” she said. “I wasn’t sure when he’d be able to get here. I figured it was easier to let him know in case I needed him to look it over later instead.”

Conner looked a little better at that. Tori reached over and patted his arm to Kira’s amusement before looking back at the Headmistress. “So, who’s first?”

“Xander got his in first,” Kira answered. “He really wanted to teach Diplomacy. It’s actually fairly set up, he did some research, and he wants permission to talk to Zhane and Andros about off-world set-ups so he can teach that too.”

The others glanced through it and Madison shook her head. “He hates doing work. He likes being the manager so he doesn’t have to do anything. He normally isn’t this thorough.”

“How was he as a Power Ranger?” Tori asked and Madison looked thoughtful. “Think of it that way.”

Madison nodded before continuing. “I like this section on collaborating with the Planetary History teacher to make sure that students take both so they can do better with alien species. Whose teaching the Planetary History class?”

“Tyzonn,” Ronny said, picking up the outline her teammate had created. The others had helped him with it so that he could do it correctly. She looked over at Kira. “What do you think?”

“I think I approved it the first time I read it over,” Kira admitted. “He’ll be good at it. Plus, Xander and he work well together. Chip’s work for Magic Basics was… uh… different.”

“Good different or bad different?” Conner asked.

“Different different,” she answered. “He’s certainly enthusiastic. He also seems like he knows what he’s doing. Madison, you know him the best. What do you think?”

“I think Chip throws himself into what he’s doing. I also think he’ll let you know if he isn’t sure of something, isn’t afraid to go to Udonna, Leanbow, or Daggeron for help, and genuinely loves magic,” she answered. Kira nodded for a minute and set Chip’s paperwork down on top of Xander and Tyzonn’s in the approved pile. “Team Cohesion is a go. Though, you didn’t have to write ‘I hate you so much, Kira, for making me do this’ on every page, Conner.”

“Just wanted to make sure you knew,” Conner said, leaning back. The others looked at him. “I was drafted, remember?”

“So, why are you still here instead of running off like Ethan and Trent?” Ronny asked. Conner shrugged.

“Kira needed me,” he answered. “And they came back.”

“Have you forgiven them yet?” Tori asked with more than a little amusement.

“They’re not dead to me anymore,” Conner said cheerily. Tori grinned at him.

“Good. Cam said we don’t need another red,” she said. Both of them snickered at that. Madison looked at Conner as she tried not to laugh.

“You tried to be a ninja?” She asked. Conner shook his head.

“Of course not!” He answered. “I just decided that Tori was the only blue in my life ever. Then we got you, Madison, and then there was two blues. I just know Tori better.”

“Thank you?” Madison said, looking over toward Kira who just shook her head and shrugged. She didn’t always understand her teammate either.

“Anyway,” Kira said to bring them back on task. “Casey talked to R.J. and he’s pretty sure he’ll be able to lead the Training class. Theo and Lily offered to help, but he didn’t want to leave their school abandoned. He did say that he thinks that even if he teaches it, all of the teams should be involved because we all had different ways of doing things. I agree.”

“Approve him,” Conner said. “I like his style.”

Tori rolled her eyes, looked at the paper and nodded. “He’s got a good plan here.”

“I’m with Conner. Approve him. Next!” Will said with a grin, winking at Ronny who just nodded enthusiastically in agreement with him. Kira sighed, but she was trying to hide a smile as she set the paper down.

“We still don’t have anyone for Battle Tactics or Ranger History,” she said. “But we did get a volunteer for Languages.”

“You look worried,” Madison said softly. Kira sighed.

“I’m not worried about her ability to teach the class and she knows what she’s doing. I’m worried about her self-confidence,” Kira said. All of the others looked at each other and then back at Kira.

“Camille?” They asked as one.

“Camille,” she affirmed. “Apparently, one of the gifts that she has is to learn a language from hearing it. Something about it just translates it into her head. That’s how she was able to learn English so quickly. Jungle Fury all gave her recommendations, but I’m worried that she’ll sabotage herself.”

“Then we just have to stop her from doing that,” Conner said firmly. The others looked at him. “We’re all family here. We just need to help her out a bit.”

“Conner’s right,” Ronny said, quickly agreeing. “We’ll just back her up a bit.”

Will shrugged. “Her issue is with the evil thing, right? Well, we’ve been through an alien, a Pinocchio Red, and a yeti. Trust me, former evil Chameleon Rangers are nothing.”

“Hunter and Blake,” Tori said and shook her head in amusement. “Not to mention Kapri and Marah.”

“Leanbow,” Madison said softly. “I think we can help her if we work together.”

Kira relaxed. “That’s what I was hoping for,” she said, putting it down in the approved pile. “So, any idea who I should dra- I mean offer the Battle Tactics and Ranger History classes to?”

There was silence for a minute as everyone thought about it. They looked back and forth to each other before Will spoke up. “Who’s left?”

“Shane, Dustin, Hunter, Blake, Cam, Ethan, Trent, Nick, Vida, Mack, Dax, Rose, Theo, Lily. Plus Daggeron, R.J. and Dom. Also Jarrod,” Tori said, trying to take everyone into account. “This may sound crazy, but I’m throwing Dustin in for Ranger History.”

They all turned and looked at her. Conner managed to get his tongue working first. “Dustin?”

“Well, he knew about the Power Rangers before and read all of the comics for them,” she said. “I hate to say it, but he does know a lot about Earth Power Ranger history and he’d probably be happy teaching it. He really is a great teacher.”

“Cam is going to kill me,” Kira muttered. “Okay. If he can come up with the same kind of plan as everyone else, you can get him away from the school, and if he wants to do it, he’s in. Agreed?”

The others shrugged, but nodded to each other. Tori had some good points and, like it or not, they didn’t have any better ideas. Conner thought about the rest of the group they’d mentioned. “If we’re taking Dustin, we better not take Shane. Cam will really kill us then. Hunter runs the other school, Cam runs the Wind one, Blake said he doesn’t want to teach. Ethan and Trent ran for the hills when this whole thing started. R.J. doesn’t want to leave the pizza parlor. Lily and Theo are both helping to keep their own school afloat. Rose is working on tech stuff.”

“Briarwood can’t lose any more of its protectors,” Madison said firmly. “So, Mack, Dax, Dom, or Jarrod?”

“Dominic can’t stay in one place for long,” Will said. “Casey mentioned it at the reunion.”

“Not Dax,” Ronny added. “I love Dax, but no.”

“Not Mack either,” Will said, folding his arms. “He’s been through enough and he’s finally getting that Father/son thing he wanted. Not going to interrupt that.”

Kira started laughing. The others looked at her in surprise as she couldn’t stop. Finally, she held a hand up. “Sorry, guys. We’re just going to be having a former big bad teaching Battle Tactics. We should have thought of it sooner.”

“Why?” Conner asked.

“Because he has the tactics he used against the Power Rangers and the ones used against him. He’s perfect for the job!” She exclaimed. Conner thought about that for a minute before nodding. He glanced at the others to see that they looked just as amused. Kira managed to calm herself down. “I really hope we’re able to figure things out faster in the future.”

“Are you kidding? We got this,” Will assured her. Conner nodded his agreement as Tori and Madison smiled. Ronny gave her a couple of thumbs up. Kira calmed a bit as she glanced at her pile of approvals and the group of people surrounding her. She might just survive this after all.


	4. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They may be a dysfunctional staff, but they're just what Rainbow Academy needs!

Kira sat back and looked at the unfinished building. It was large, larger than she’d thought it was going to be, but the others agreed that they needed to prepare in case they had to expand. She’d thought that they could do it later, but Trent had reminded her of their own lair and that trying to expand and possibly rebuild would just make things more difficult. She hated to agree with him, but he was probably right. Besides, this made everyone else feel secure about it for the moment.

“Conner said I’d find you here.” Kira glanced up and saw Tori standing behind her. She considered it a victory that she hadn’t jumped from the voice. The Blue Wind Ranger could be silent when she wanted to be. Tori took a seat next to Kira and looked out with her.

“What do you want, Tori?” Kira asked. Tori didn’t look at her, but continued to look straight ahead at the building.

“They’re claiming classrooms, you know,” Tori said without answering her. “I think Xander and Chip were going to have a magic duel for one of them, but Madison stopped them from starting. Camille was trying to stay out of things, but Casey and Dustin made sure to grab her one while everyone else was busy. They thought she might want the one that was out of the way a bit.”

“Tori…”

“Are you okay, Kira?” Tori finally asked, looking over at her friend. Kira blinked a couple of times. “We’ve been trying so hard to get all of this together that sometimes, I think we forget just how much responsibility to threw at you.”

“You sound like Doctor O,” Kira accused. Tori laughed.

“Unlike half of our staff, I actually was a sensei,” she said. “But, if you’d prefer more of a Blue Ranger approach, do I need to kick your ass to get you to talk?”

“Well, you don’t sound like Doctor O anymore,” Kira answered. “Why did you guys vote me in?”

“Because you were the best for the job,” Tori answered.

“You’re a teacher. Casey has taught and was a red, same with Shane. Cam and Hunter both ran schools. I’m a singer. I make music. Why did you guys decide I could run a school?” She asked. Tori was quiet for a minute before she spoke up.

“Because you were the one who came up with the hard questions,” she answered. “You’re the one who had a mentor who was a Power Ranger. You handle the other Dino Thunder Rangers just fine and you handled the entire group at the reunion. Honestly? You were the only one that we could all agree to listen to.”

“You guys listen to me?” Kira asked sardonically.

“Well, we try,” Tori amended. At Kira’s look, Tori laughed. “We do! We’re all different teams and you know how excited Rangers can get. I’d like to remind you about Xander and Chip wanting to duel for a classroom.”

“Who gets it?”

“Neither. Madison was so upset with them both that she banned both of them from using it and gave it to Tyzonn. Will folded his arms and backed her up. Ronny cheered them on,” Tori explained. Kira smiled at that. “We have your back, Kira. Yes, it’s going to get crazy because we’re Power Rangers, but that doesn’t mean we can’t handle it.”

“Do you think it will settle down once we finish building everything?” Kira asked.

“Are you kidding? We’ll be getting students then,” Tori answered. She leaned in as if imparting secret words of wisdom. “Students are insane.”

“Thanks, Tori. I feel so much better now.”

“I already worked on making you feel better. Now I’m helping you deal with reality,” Tori answered. “Tell you what. If you survive this week, we’ll go out for ice cream and leave Conner to deal with everything here.”

“Conner?” Kira asked in amusement. Tori nodded.

“I’m your second, but Conner and Madison have somehow become a joint third in command. Will and Ronny are backing them up,” Tori answered. Kira just looked at her.

“Conner? My Conner?” Kira asked. Tori rolled his eyes.

“First of all, he was your Red. He can lead when he needs to. Second, Madison doesn’t have Conner’s force of personality. The two of them are working well together,” Tori told her. “Will and Ronny not only accepted it, but have been encouraging it, so no one is feeling upset and we’re getting things done.”

Kira actually smiled at that. “We are, aren’t we?”

“You had any doubt?” Tori asked. Kira stood up and looked over at Tori.

“How busy is it today?” She asked. Tori paused for a minute before grinning.

“Not so busy that we can’t leave Conner and Maddie alone now and head toward the beach,” she answered. Kira motioned with one hand.

“To your van!”

***

Conner glanced over to see that Madison was upset. No Ranger woman he’d ever met bothered to hide what they were feeling, though some were quieter about it than others. Madison was a mix. He sometimes wondered if it was less a woman Blue thing and more a Water Power Ranger thing that they could be calm and quiet, but turn around and be like a hurricane. He hadn’t known her for very long, but he could tell she was heading into the latter mode. “Uh… Madison?”

“I asked them not to do one thing,” Madison said. She was still quiet. He wished she would just yell. He knew she could. He’d watched her do it, but right now she was just quiet.

“I know,” he said, trying his best to placate her even though he was ready to knock some heads together too. If Madison hadn’t been really scaring him, he probably would have already lost the very loose hold he had on his own temper. As it was, he was giving Dax and Dustin a dark look. “Dax, you said you wanted to help. Dustin, you’re supposed to be helping with the ground stuff.”

“Foundation,” Madison said. He really wished she wouldn’t be so scary.

“Foundation,” he repeated. “Madison asked everyone not to play with their powers today because accidents can happen. Like, say, destroying half of her med room. So, you two are going to fix it before I stand back and let Madison ‘play’ with her powers.”

Both of the men babbled something that sounded like a mix between an apology and assurances, but Conner wasn’t really listening. He had an angry Water Mage to deal with. Once he was sure they were gone, he looked over at her. “They’ll get it fixed.”

“One thing,” she repeated. It didn’t help matters that she wasn’t exaggerating. After Xander and Chip had wanted to duel for a classroom, which he still didn’t get since Kira had dragged him to a classroom and made him take it, Madison had firmly told all of them that they were not to play around with their powers while they were at the school because accidents could happen. Dax had offered to help since his powers could help get tools and the like to the top of the buildings. Dustin had been asked to make sure the foundation was secure. Conner still wasn’t sure why they had decided to see who could do their job faster, but Dax had accidentally knocked into one of the support beams and Dustin had tried to catch him but took some of the foundation with. The results to Madison’s med room was the ending result.

“I know,” he assured her. “We’ll get it fixed. It’ll be great!”

Madison looked ready to say something else when she actually looked at him and the words died in her mouth. She recomposed herself and gave him a small smile. “Thank you for not letting me flood the school.”

“I was tempted,” he admitted. “But that would have made things worse and Kira would have blamed me.”

Madison laughed and sighed. “What if they do it again?”

“I’ll talk to Will and see if he and Ronny can keep a better eye on it,” Conner promised.

“When did Ronny become part of the security?”

“When Will remembered she has super speed and nothing to do right now,” Conner answered. “I’ll go find him.”

“I’ll come with you,” Madison said. At his surprised look, she smiled. “I have nothing to do right now either.”

“Whatever keeps you from killing the staff,” Conner said with a shrug as he led the way through the buildings. He knew which were safe and which weren’t which made it easier to find Will. The former spy glanced up when he saw them coming and waved. He gently set his hand on Madison’s shoulder.

“I heard,” he said. “Ronny went off to keep them working.”

“Can you keep an eye on all of them?” Conner asked. Will looked amused.

“An eye, an ear. Superpowered senses, remember?” He asked. “Don’t worry, Madison. It won’t happen again.”

“Thank you,” Madison said. Conner relaxed when he heard the gratitude in in her voice. If she felt better, then he didn’t have to worry about her losing her temper. Not that he really had been that worried about it. When Madison calmed down, it took a bit to rile her back up again. “I don’t know how we’re going to control the students when we can’t control the teachers.”

“Kira’s pterascream,” Conner said absently. They both turned to look at him. “What?”

“They’re kids!” Will answered. “You don’t pterascream kids!”

“Not at them,” Conner said. “Just around them. It’ll quiet them.”

“How is your team not deaf?” Will asked. Conner shrugged.

“Anyway,” Madison said, trying not to look as disturbed as she felt. “I think we should find a better solution before Pterascreaming.”

Will looked calmer as he looked around. “We have a school full of Power Rangers and Conner knows how to get a hold of the rest of them,” he said. “We’re good.”

Madison didn’t quite look convinced, but both men just smiled at her. “It’ll be fine, Maddie,” Conner said, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. “We have a plan. Just stick with us.”

“Your plan was to pterascream at them, Conner,” she reminded him. He looked amused.

“It’s a good plan. Right, Will?” Conner asked.

“No, but getting the other Rangers is,” he answered. “Stop stressing, Maddie. We’ve got this.”

Madison paused for a minute as she took it in, including both of them using her nickname to help calm her. She smiled at them both. “If you say so,” she finally agreed. “But considering Dax and Dustin nearly destroyed my office, it’s going to take a bit for me to believe it.”

“Remind me to kill Dustin and Dax later,” Will muttered to Conner. Conner snickered.

“We’ll just tell Tori and Kira,” he said. Will looked amused.

“So the goal is to make them wish we killed them,” he said in amusement. Conner didn’t disagree. Madison rolled her eyes, but didn’t contradict them this time. She really was still mad.

“Who is going to wish they were dead?” Ronny asked as she raced up behind them, leaping onto Will’s back playfully before catching Conner’s high five.

“Dax and Dustin,” Conner answered. Ronny nodded, not adding to it before looking at Conner.

“So, I promised Kira I’d get some supplies in town. Wanna come?” She asked, bouncing on her toes. Conner grinned.

“You driving?” He asked.

“Of course!” She answered.

“I’m in,” he said. “But you better floor it.”

“Is there any other way to drive?” She asked, leading the way as the two started off. Conner paused and looked over at Madison.

“Go,” she said. “Will and I will be fine.”

Conner grinned at her, waved and chased after Ronny who pointedly didn’t turn on the super speed as they raced toward the car. In a fair race, they were pretty much neck and neck though every once in a while, Ronny had to slow herself down before super speed took over. Madison shook her head and glanced at Will who watched them with an amused look.

“I’m surprised Conner hasn’t asked Mr. Hartford to give him back his speed,” Madison mentioned as she watched them. “I know I’d feel lost without my magic at this point and with Kira having hers, I’m surprised that her teammates didn’t rush over.”

“They said it wouldn’t be the same,” Will answered. She glanced at him. “I asked. Conner said he got the power from the gem and he wasn’t gonna get a substitute right now. Ronny’s trying to talk him into it. I think once the kids show up, he’ll give in.”

“Why?”

“Kids are crazy and super speed helps,” he answered. “Besides, he wants to race Ronny too.”

“Remind me again why we want him to have super speed then?” She asked in amusement, but Will’s face turned serious.

“Because he’s the only one without his powers,” Will said quietly. Madison looked off into the direction they’d both run off in.

“Oh.”

“Catch you around, Madison,” Will said, waving back at her as he walked off. Madison blinked.

“Where are you going?”

“I need to have a talk with a ninja and my former teammate,” he answered.

“We handled that.”

“Not with enough threats!” Madison groaned. His voice was downright chipper when he said it. “Relax! They’ll still be able to work!”

“Will!”

“Fine. Tomorrow they’ll be able to work.”

“Will, they’re working on my office!”

“Hmm. Then they can work on fixing it all night.”

“Will!” Madison tried again. He didn’t answer her. “Will! You can’t just threaten them! Will!”

He didn’t even pause.

***

“So! What did Dax and Dustin do this time?” Ronny asked as she swerved around a corner. To her glee, Conner didn’t even bother throwing a hand out but just calmly kept himself in place. If she was going to be honest, half the time she swerved too hard just to see how he’d react, but he seemingly shrugged it off.

“They destroyed Madison’s office. Half of it is completely gone,” Conner answered. “She was this close to flooding half the school.”

“Should we have left them alone?” Ronny asked.

“Yes, because you’d just cheer Will on anyway,” Conner teased. Ronny just grinned. “Besides, Madison can handle it and Kira should be back soon with Tori. What did Boss Lady send you out for?”

“Some more construction stuff. It’s been paid for, but she needed someone to go get it,” Ronny answered. “And I wanted some company.”

“Works for me. I need a break,” Conner said. “So, what’s your ‘bus’ looking like?”

“Less like a bus and more like a trackless train,” Ronny answered gleefully. “Daggeron said he based on his train or something. I wasn’t really paying attention because I was looking at my new bus.”

“When it’s up and running, we’re going on a joyride,” Conner said, sharing her grin.

“I want to see how fast it can go from here to New York,” she said, clasping her hands eagerly.

“Can it go over water?” Conner asked. Ronny paused.

“I don’t know,” she said honestly. “I need to ask Daggeron that. If it does, let’s see how long it takes to get to Europe!”

“I’m in,” Conner agreed. “We’ll have to convince Kira.”

“We’re testing its capabilities,” she answered.

“She’ll make us take a tech.”

“What about your Blue? Cam and Rose would just sarcastically complain.”

“He might complain.”

“Would he be better than Cam or Rose?”

“Definitely. He’s used to me and he owes me one for taking off,” Conner said. He leaned back against the seat. Ronny didn’t glance over at him as the road seemed to fly by. She did, however, pat his arm in a show of solidarity.

“So, how goes the ‘Team Cohesion’ thing?” She asked. Conner groaned and put his head in his hands.

“I hate you all,” he muttered. “I hate you all for deciding this was a good idea because of something I said.”

“Not well, huh?” She asked. Conner looked up at her with a slight glare.

“Do I look like a teacher to you?”

“More than Dustin does.”

“That doesn’t count! Dustin’s a ninja!”

“He’s still a teacher.”

“Ronny…”

“Conner…”

“Ronny!”

“You’ll be fine! You know tons about Team Cohesion!”

“Ronny, do you even know what Team Cohesion is?”

“Yes, Mr. Grumpy. It’s getting a team to work together. Your team works together when they aren’t ditching you for New York.”

“Not helping, Ronny,” he groaned, leaning back against the seat as he continued to hold his head. He liked Ronny. He really, really did. But right now, he would have traded her for Tori in a heartbeat. The fact was, she wasn’t wrong. The fact was when they needed them, Trent and Ethan had come running and hadn’t really left. They’d quietly helped their teammates and stood there to face their former mentor who, granted, had handled it a lot better than they thought he would.

“Look, Conner, whatever you did with your group? Just show the kids that. Problem solved,” Ronny told him. “Oh! Want to play soccer when we get back?”

“You’re really bad at changing the subject.”

“No I’m not,” Ronny told him. “You’re just really bad at following my lead. So, soccer?”

“You’re not going to throw a fit if I beat you, are you?” He asked, giving her a look.

“Only a small one. I’m getting better,” she said, swerving the car into the shop’s parking lot.

“True. You only pouted three days last time.”

“That wasn’t pouting. That was strategic replanning.”

“Uh huh. Sure it was.”

“You in or not?”

“I’m in,” Conner said and grinned at her. “I might as well not be the only one miserable.”

“Jerk.”

***

Kira leaned back on her sleeping bag. She wasn’t sure why Conner and Ronny had thought they needed color coded sleeping bags. Nor did she really understand why they insisted that they needed to camp at the skeleton of a school they were building. That said, she quietly went along with it, having set her sleeping bag down next to the two blue ones and directly across from the red on. The red was joined by the other yellow sleeping bag and the black one until if made a circle around the possibly dangerous camp fire. Kira had mentioned her worries since they were in a field, but Conner and Ronny had argued that they had two Rangers who made it their business to work with water. She’d relented.

Will glanced over at the others and looked sternly at Conner and Ronny. “We’re not singing campfire songs. So don’t start.”

“I wasn’t planning on it. Tell Kira. She’s the singer,” Conner said as he and Ronny worked to open the marshmallows, chocolate, and graham crackers. Will turned to look at Kira.

“No campfire songs,” she sighed. “I don’t even like campfire songs.”

“When I was little, Vida used to play around with campfire songs until they didn’t sound like what they started out with. Then we had to drop out of that scout troop,” Madison said softly. They all looked at her. “I’m the sensible sister, but it was just easier to go with her sometimes. She is my sister.”

“Didn’t know you had it in you!” Will said. Kira heard the bit of pride there and managed to keep her smile down.

“I didn’t make it a habit,” Madison argued. “I just couldn’t leave her alone.”

“I understand that,” Tori said as she finished making sure they had clean water for the night. “Between Dustin and Shane, I had to do that a lot.”

“Weren’t you nearly kicked out too?” Conner asked her with a grin.

“Still didn’t get my powers in detention,” she fought back. Kira looked over at her.

“Hey! Friendly fire, much?”

“Sorry, Kira,” Tori said sincerely. “Besides, I bet it was Conner’s idea.”

“It was.”

“Hey! Judas! You backed me up!” Conner protested, throwing a marshmallow at her which she absently caught. She glanced up and saw Conner cursing the fact that they’d trained together for so long. She simply grinned at him and bit into the marshmallow. Will glanced over at Conner.

“She’s cold,” he said and Conner nodded.

“Yep,” he agreed. “But everyone gets mad when I say it.”

“Here. Stab the marshmallow and put it in the fire. You’ll feel better,” Will suggested. Conner shrugged and did as he said. Will nodded and followed in turn, basking in the male solidarity. Tori and Kira both rolled their eyes while Madison and Ronny snickered.

“So what now?” Ronny asked. “Scary stories or something?”

“We’re Power Rangers,” Madison reminded her. “I don’t think stories are going to scare us anymore.”

“As long as we’re not talking about the school, I don’t care what we talk about,” Kira said, relaxing for the first time in a while. The ice cream had helped, but this was even better especially with the smores.

“Oh really?” Conner asked.

“As long as Conner doesn’t pick the subject,” she added quickly, cutting her former teammate off at the pass. “And no ‘how did you get your powers’ talk either. I don’t want to talk about it.”

“Me neither,” Conner grumbled.

“Nor me,” agreed Tori. “There’s a reason I let Dustin do it and then just wince a lot.”

Kira watched as the other three just nodded slowly before they picked up on a safe topic. It wasn’t an uninteresting topic, but Kira found herself watching her companions instead. She watched as Tori and Conner exchanged jibes, Will and Conner defending their sex against Madison’s complaints regarding her teammates, Ronny tossing marshmallows over to Tori, who didn’t like them heated, while Conner handed his over to Madison when she accidentally dropped hers in the fire. She smiled a bit at that and even harder when she noticed that Will was actively using his super hearing and glancing around if he thought there was a problem. She noticed Ronny glance over at him every so often to make sure she didn’t need to check it out.

They might be a rag-tag bunch, but they were her rag-tag bunch and she was going to make them proud. As a marshmallow hit her square in the forehead, she amended her statement. She was going to make them proud or she was going to kill them all depending on how the rest of the night went.


	5. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kira learns the old phrase "Always expect the unexpected" the hard way.

It was Tommy who called Kira up about four months later. If it had been anyone else that Sunday morning, she wouldn’t have taken the call, but her mentor rarely called on Sundays, let alone in the mornings, so she figured it could be important. She reached over, groaning, and picked up her phone. “What is it, Doctor O?”

“I figured out how to get your students,” he answered. Kira was up like a shock. They’d been trying to come up with a way for some time now to pick students who they had a feeling could be Power Rangers one day. They couldn’t just grab any kid off the street and hope for the best, so they were left trying to figure out a safer way to do it. Kira had mentioned it to Tommy, well, more complained about it to him and he’d assured her that he’d try to figure something out.

“How? What?” Kira said, pulling herself into consciousness. She shook her head and tried again. “What did you figure out?”

“Cole.”

“Cole?” Kira asked, trying to throw her mind back to the reunions and the video he’d made them. There was a slight click for her. “The Wild Force Red?”

“That’s him,” Tommy answered. “He’s an empath, Kira.”

“So he can check to see if people would make good Power Rangers?” She asked. She was really trying not to sound confused.

“Well, not on his own,” Tommy admitted. “But Andros and Zhane said they’d help him figure it out.”

“And that could do it?” Kira asked.

“That could do it.”

“When can they start?” She asked. She wanted them to start now so that she could see if this would work, but she didn’t want to push it either.

“Now,” he answered. “I decided against telling you until we could see if it was an option.”

Kira set the phone down, made sure he wouldn’t be able to hear, and did a small victory dance before picking back up the phone. “They have my blessing or whatever they need,” she said quickly.

“Considering your victory dance…”

“I made sure you couldn’t hear that!”

“Kira, I trained all of you and kept in contact with the four of you afterwards. Ethan and Conner both cheer as loud as they can, Trent quietly nods to himself, you wait until you think no one is looking and do a little dance,” he told her. She frowned at the phone.

“Did Hayley tell you?”

“I didn’t need her to,” he said. She kept glaring at the phone, but it didn’t explode or catch on fire and it didn’t seem to reach Tommy. “I know it’s early, but I wanted to let you know.”

“Thanks, Doctor O,” she said honestly and there was a pause. “I’m fine.”

“Are you sure?”

“Stop worrying!”

“I just know it’s a lot…”

“That’s still worrying.”

“And Conner’s worried about your health…”

“Dr… wait, he’s what?” She asked, pulling herself back into the conversation. “He hasn’t said anything.”

“He said something like ‘If she knows I’m worried, then she’ll worry and it’ll get worse’,” he said, not bothering to mimic the young man.

“So why are you telling me?”

“Because I know you’d want to know,” Tommy answered. There was a pause. “You know I’m here if you need me?”

“Yes, Doctor O.”

“And if you can’t reach my phone…”

“Call Hayley because yours probably died since you forgot to charge it,” she answered. There were days she swore that he got worse as they got older. She was pretty sure he wasn’t this bad when they were Power Rangers. Of course, they had had communicators when they were Power Rangers. “You know we know all of this, right?”

“I know.”

“How often do you talk to Conner anyway?”

“Every week,” he answered. Kira looked surprised. She knew for a fact the rest of them didn’t do that. She thought about it for a few minutes and then sighed.

“That’s why you’re not constantly checking up on us, isn’t it?” She asked. “You’re worse than my mom!”

“Your mom, hopefully, doesn’t realize that you were fighting Mesagog your senior year,” Tommy argued. “And she doesn’t know that you have your powers back because you had to fight Thrax.”

“So you know I can take care of myself,” Kira said.

“I know. Just let me worry.”

“You better worry about Ethan, Trent, and Conner this much.”

“I had to stop Ethan from programming himself into a coma last week and assure Trent that the comic company he wants to work for will pick him up,” Tommy answered. “And, while we’re on the subject, stop trying to kill Conner.”

Kira rolled her eyes. Well, at least she knew it wasn’t because she was a girl. “You’re impossible, Doctor O. I’m going back to bed.”

“Are you sure…?”

“Good night, Doctor O,” she said, hanging up. She curled back onto her pillow and smiled as she fell asleep.

***

“Xander, why are you hiding in here?” Kira asked, looking over the unfinished classroom that her friend and former teammate had taken to hiding in. Xander looked up at her from his position on the floor.

“I’m not hiding,” he answered. “I’m working.”

“Working?” She asked, looking over. Xander moved a bit and she could see the pot that he’d been hiding. In it, some sort of flora was growing out of it.

“Yep.”

“You do remember Chip is the magic teacher, right?” She asked, watching in fascination as it grew into a bush. She wasn’t sure how big it was supposed to get, but Xander had gone back to watching it closely. He motioned for her to have a seat, which she quickly did.

“It’s not the magic that’s the important part,” he told her. “It’s the growth.”

“You lost me,” she said. He lifted his hand and it slowed its growth significantly.

“This is a rosemary bush. It needs a certain amount of attention to grow. It’s not the same every time because every individual plant is different, but there are certain things that stay the same, right?” He asked. She nodded. “That’s diplomacy.”

“You lost me, Xander.”

“Do you know why Plan Xander doesn’t work often?” He asked. She blinked. “I did notice it didn’t work often as a Power Ranger, Kira.”

“Then why did you keep trying?” She asked.

“Two reasons: One, because it seems like the right thing to do. Fighting should be a last resort, not a first one, right?” He asked and she looked surprised at that. Before he could say anything, however, he kept talking. “The second is to try to find a place to start.”

“Start?”

“Believe it or not, Plan Xander works with most people,” he explained. “We just don’t call it Plan Xander. We introduce ourselves and start a conversation from there. The monsters we face either don’t understand what I’m saying or they don’t do things that way.”

“So, why keep trying?” She asked before pausing. “Other than it being the right thing to do.”

“Because I keep trying to look for a place to start. It’s the same with foreign worlds. You find out how they work and try to go by their customs. Zhane gave me a ton of information for the worlds we know, but what about the ones we don’t?” He asked. “You have to figure out how to start, right?”

“And the rosemary?”

“Using magic with the plants helps remind me that they’re all different. Not just the cultures we meet, but the people. The kids I’ll teach, they’ll be different too,” he answered. “So, it’s sort of like meditation, but it’s also filling my classroom with plants.”

“Your classroom…?” Kira started and looked around. Xander was right. This was his approved classroom. Now that she was actively looking, she noticed the pots of new plants in the corners, not to mention the ivy the crawled up the walls. She worried about the room’s stability for only a few seconds before remembering Xander’s magic. She shook her head. “I’m sorry I bothered you.”

Xander set the plant aside and looked at her. “You weren’t,” he assured her. “But I don’t think I’m the one that’s hiding.”

“I’m not hiding, Xander,” she informed him. “I’m checking on things.”

“Sure, checking,” Xander said sarcastically. “So, what’s wrong?”

She thought about lying to him, but sighed instead. “Doctor O found a way to get us some students when we’re ready.”

“Didn’t you want that?”

“Yes, but the closer it gets to them being here, the more real this gets. I was thrilled when he told me but now I’m just worried about it,” she said. “These are going to be real kids that we can really screw up. What if we make things worse?”

“You worried about that with Operation Overdrive too,” Xander said fondly. She looked surprised. “You were worried when they decided to quit that maybe our helping only made things worse.”

“And we had to assure you that it was fine.” Kira looked over at the door to see Tori standing in the doorway with a slight smile. Conner was standing behind her, looking completely amused.

“Are you kidding?” He asked. “She called us to make sure we thought she was doing the right thing when she got her powers again. She was going to go regardless, but…”

“I hate all of you,” Kira muttered. “And it’s something we seriously need to think about.”

“If we didn’t think you’d be a good headmistress, we wouldn’t have put you in charge,” Tori told her.

“The kids will be fine,” Xander added. “We teachers have been going over things with each other. Even Conner.”

“Under protest!” Conner called out.

“Appearance’s sake,” Xander assured Kira. “Everyone is ready. Stop panicking.”

“Stop talking to Dr. O when he’s worried,” Conner added. “It makes you worry more.”

“Is that why you call him weekly?” Kira fought back.

“I call him weekly so we all don’t get random three am phone calls,” Conner answered easily. “Chip went and brought all of his magic supplies. Camille memorized four new languages, including Aquitian. Tyzonn got some maps and pictures for Planetary History of various planets. Casey set up a schedule to help us all get involved and was in his office with a new pizza…”

“RJ is still sending him pizza then?” Kira asked in amusement. Tori rolled her eyes.

“At least he stopped sending Casey baking instructions,” she said. “I swear pizza is the only thing RJ is serious about.”

“Dustin has been pouring through Ranger History,” Tori said fondly. “He’s ready and he’s been on his best behavior since the Incident.”

“Good. Because Madison is still glaring at him,” Conner said in amusement. “Jarrod has got Battle Tactics down. Also, he is a scary, scary man when he gets focused.”

“He’s not that bad,” Tori said calmly.

“That’s because you’re a ninja!” Conner argued before looking at Kira. “He’s scary.”

Kira snickered as the others openly laughed. Conner tried to look upset, but ended up snorting his laughter instead. Xander motioned toward the other man. “And Conner has Team Cohesion down. Though, your students are going to hate some of your bonding activities.”

“Yep!” Conner said proudly. “But they’re going to love some of the others.”

“We’ll be fine,” Tori said. “And we have plenty of time, right?”

“Right,” Kira agreed as she relaxed. Her teachers were ready, her staff was ready, the school would soon be finished being built, and she just had to focus. She could do this.

***

“What do you mean Cole is bringing us a kid?” Tori asked, before working to keep her voice down. She was looking at Kira who had her head in her arms on the desk. She’d found out earlier that day and was wishing that she could justify getting drunk. She heard Tori shut the door and head over, but Kira was still not about to pick her head up. “I thought you told him to just look.”

“I did,” Kira muttered in her arms. She just wanted to lie here for the next year. “But he found her and said that it was important we take her now.”

“What about her parents?” Tori asked.

“She doesn’t have any,” Kira said. “I think that’s why he’s bringing her here: he sees himself in her. I asked about foster parents, but he didn’t know anything about that either.”

“Cam is looking into this, right?” Tori asked and Kira snorted in her arms.

“I told Cam, Ethan, and Rose before I told you to make sure we won’t be brought up on kidnapping charges,” Kira assured her. “They promised they’d take care of it. It’s a kid, Tori! We don’t even have a working school and we’re getting a kid already. That’s not the worst part.”

“What is then?” Tori asked.

“She’s an orphan,” Kira said. “We’re going to need to have somewhere for her to sleep because she probably won’t be the only one.”

Tori paused and then nodded. “I can’t form buildings faster, but I can grabs some supplies from Wind Academy. And I’ll ask Hunter for anything he can spare,” she said before giving a small laugh. “And you thought Ronny and Conner were crazy for the sleeping bag thing.”

“I will never admit that was a good idea,” Kira said, giving her friend a small glare. Tori seemed amused.

“Got you to look up,” she said softly, heading over to Kira and pulling her into a hug. “We’ll get through this.”

Kira didn’t say anything else because it would have sounded whiny. She wasn’t about to pull the ‘Why me? Why is my life so hard’ complaint when they were taking in a child who had no one but them and was only found because they’d been looking for someone like her. She appreciated that Tori didn’t say anything else either giving Kira a change to finally think things out. After a minute, Kira pulled away from Tori and pulled out a sheet of paper. “Kira?”

“I’m making a list of things we’ll need,” Kira answered. “At least until we’re on our feet. Blankets and the like, which you said you can get, food, extra water, stuff like that. Can you get this to Conner and Ronny?”

“Sure thing,” she answered before pausing. “Are you going to be okay, Kira?”

“I’m fine,” Kira answered. When Tori looked incredulous, Kira amended her statement. “I’m as fine as I can be right now.”

“Did I mention I was sorry you were elected?” Tori asked. Kira finally smiled.

“Several times,” she assured her. “Thanks.”

“Let me know if you need anything,” Tori said before rushing off with Kira’s list in her hands. Kira put her head back against her desk. She would get through this. She was just going to have to stop making statements, even in her head, that things were as bad as they could be. Otherwise she was going to end up with a horde of children who were worse than Conner or Dustin or Dax. Instead, she just needed to concentrate on one little girl.

***

“She’s a biter,” Conner informed Kira as he stood back, holding his hand. Kira glanced at it to see that it wasn’t bleeding before she looked back up at Conner. To her surprise, he didn’t see as upset as she would have expected. He looked serious. “And she looks like she would be.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean Cole didn’t clean her up before he brought her over,” Conner said. “She’s like a tiny Tasmanian devil or something. She’d dirty and bitey and I swear she’s making weird noises.”

“Conner…” Kira tried but Conner stopped her scolding.

“And she’s terrified, Kira. I don’t know what Cole told her to get her to go with him, but it only works with him. Anyone else and she’s freaking out,” he said. “And just getting close to her was enough to make her go ‘Yum, yum Conner tastes delicious’.”

“You do know it she’s not actually trying to eat you, right?” Kira asked. Conner nodded. “Where is she?”

“In the other room talking with Cole,” he answered, motioning toward one of the empty rooms. She nodded and gathered her courage as she headed through the door. Her mind flashed to Xander and she quickly paid attention to Cole to give herself an idea of how to react. Of course, it wouldn’t be perfect since he was an empath, but it was a start.

The child looked between eight and ten years old if Kira were to judge, though she wasn’t sure about her ability to tell ages on kids. Fortunately, she wasn’t on four legs growling like a dog or anything like that, but she was crouched in a fighting position and Kira could only imagine what she’d been through. She immediately went to work on making herself look smaller so she didn’t scare the little girl in front of her. She also kept her mouth at a closed smile. She moved toward her, but tried to pay attention to the girl’s reaction.

When the girl began to move back, Kira stopped. She stayed in that place and made sure not to move forward. She crouched down and wait as the girl just looked at her. After a minute, she finally spoke up. “Don’t baby me!”

Kira nearly feel backward, but managed to pull herself up. The girl somehow managed to look a bit menacing for being so small. “Okay. No babying you,” Kira promised. “My name is Kira. Did Cole explain where he was taking you?”

“No,” the girl answered. “Just that it was away from There.”

Kira didn’t ask where There was. She wasn’t sure she wanted to know right now. “Do you know what a Power Ranger is?”

“I’m nine, not stupid,” Charlie answered. “They’re superheroes who save the world.”

“Well, Cole and I were Power Rangers once,” she said, keeping her voice calm and level. Charlie looked at her.

“Power Rangers save the world,” Charlie repeated. “They don’t take in kids.”

“How do you know that?”

“Because if they did,” Charlie said, disdain falling into her voice. “They would have saved me by now.”

Kira looked to see the horror on her face was matched by Cole’s. She quietly reminded herself that there was only so much she could have done and specific towns she had had to be in. That said, it still hurt. “We’re confined to a city,” she said honestly. “And even then, you’re right. We have to try to save the city itself instead of individual people. But that doesn’t mean we don’t wish we could have done something sooner.”

“So what now? Gonna send me to another foster family? Parents are dead. Can’t send me there,” Charlie said and Kira tried not to blink. She was pretty sure the little girl was taunting her. She glanced at Cole who seemed to look even sadder and realized the girl was trying to protect herself.

“Honestly?” Kira asked. “We’re looking into your background to figure out what’s going on. If we can, we’ll take you in.”

“We?” She asked. “Like you and Mr. Overfriendly?”

Kira held back the sigh and tried not to glance toward the door where she knew Conner was listening in. Instead, she nodded. “And others,” she answered. “We’re making a school.”

“A school,” Charlie said in disbelief. “You guys are teachers?”

“Well, sort of,” Kira said. “We’re teaching how to be Power Rangers.”

“And what? You needed a mascot?” Charlie snipped. Kira smiled at that.

“No,” she answered. “I asked Cole to go out and find people who could be a Power Ranger one day.”

Charlie blinked a couple of times and Kira could see she didn’t know how to react to that. After a minute, she looked at Kira again. “You think I…”

“I think you could,” Kira answered. “Power Rangers come from all sorts of different places.”

Charlie closed in on herself and Kira waited, letting her think things through. The girl seemed to be running things through her head and Kira was extremely relieved that the school they were running was for Power Rangers or she had the feeling this kid would have been running for the hills. “Prove it.”

“Prove what?”

“Prove you’re a Power Ranger,” she said, folding her arms. Kira thought about it and, after a minute, pulled out her morpher. She held it out for Charlie to see.

“Just this once,” she warned. “It isn’t a party trick.”

Charlie just grinned. “Okay.”

Kira stood back. “Dino Thunder! Power Up!” She called out, relishing in the Power running over her and feeling less worn out than she had been. She let it finish before looking back at Charlie who was in awe. “Well?”

“You’re a Power Ranger!” Charlie said. Kira nodded. “A real one!”

Kira just nodded before powering down. “So, believe me now?”

Charlie didn’t even nod as she tried to process the conversation. “And everyone else here?”

“They were Power Rangers too,” she answered.

“And you think I could be one?” The disbelief was gone and had been replaced by hope. Kira nodded. “What if you can’t take me in?”

Kira held back her response that Cam, Ethan, and Rose would have to set aside their pride and get every tech and tech inclined Ranger working on it, call up T.J.’s group, drag in Mr. Hartford, and push the issue through. “We’ll figure out something. You want to give this a try?”

Charlie nodded and then paused. “Do I have to apologize for biting?”

“It would be nice.”

“Can I do it later?”

“I think Conner would be okay with that.”

“Did you know your school isn’t finished yet?”

“It was brought to my attention.” Kira felt a bit amazed at how much she was channeling her mentor at this point and decided to ask Tommy who he channeled when he became a teacher. She glanced down to see the ghost of a smile mixed in with that hope and she stood up. “Are you ready?”

Charlie stepped forward and nodded as Kira shared a relieved look with Cole. He leaned down to Charlie. “Did you need me to stay for a couple days?”

She paused for a minute and then then nodded. Cole nodded back and, to Kira’s surprise, took her hand as he waited for Kira to lead the way. “We don’t have any sort of furniture or anything,” Kira mentioned. “But we have sleeping bags, blankets, and pillows.”

“Better than the pavement,” the girl answered and Kira tried not to wince.

“Let’s go.”


	6. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As the school is built, so is the relationship between Charlie and her guardians. It's not easy to raise a kid. Not even when you're a former Power Ranger.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay. This is a warning chapter. I finally had to add in the warnings for the story, but I'll do it now too: There is mention of sex with a kid. It's not detailed, but it's mentioned. If you need to skip over this chapter, I understand and if you want to PM for a decent summary, I will be happy to give it to you. I do NOT want to trigger anyone. I love you all and I don't want to hurt you. Carry on.

“Whoa! Taz! Slow down!” Conner called out as Charlie turned a corner sharply. The girl barely looked up at him, but dove behind his legs instead. After they’d gotten over their misunderstanding, the two of them got along well enough. Though, if Conner was to be honest, not usually well enough that she’d hide behind him.

“Charlie!” Unless Kira was involved. He glanced back at her and mouthed ‘What did you do’ as she mouthed back ‘Nothing!’ Conner turned as his friend stalked around the corner. Knowing what Charlie was up to, he immediately pushed toward playing dumb.

“Morning, Kira!” He said brightly. “Going for a walk?”

“Conner…” she snapped.

“How about we go for a walk?” Conner said as if she hadn’t have interrupted him. “I think we need to see how Xander’s garden is doing…”

“Conner, move,” Kira snapped. Conner dropped the dumb jock persona and sighed.

“Calm down, Kira. What did Taz do?” He asked. He made sure Charlie was still behind him as he leaned his shoulder against the wall, arms folded. Charlie made sure not to move.

“Why is all of the water in new fountain dyed blue?” She demanded. Conner quickly bit the inside of his cheek to keep from laughing. Charlie looked out from behind Conner’s legs.

“Madison and Tori mess with water and they’re both blue,” Charlie said. “So, I thought they’d like it.”

“It’s not that bad, Kira. You’re just upset she did it behind your back,” Conner said. Kira turned her glare on him.

“Remember when we had the ‘united front’ talk?” She asked.

“Remember when I said ‘I don’t want to because I want to be the cool uncle’ during that talk?”  
Conner asked. He heard Charlie trying not to laugh behind him. “I’m invoking that. Besides, Tori backs you.”

“Conner…”

“Fine,” Conner said, sighing heavily as he turned to Charlie. “Try not to give Headmistress Ford an aneurysm, okay?”

“A what?” Charlie asked, looking confused.

“Uh… technically a blood clot in the head, but I mean stop making her mad, okay?” Conner tried to look stern over it, but he had to admit he was pretty amused and he knew Ethan would be just as amused over it when he called him about it tonight. Kira rolled her eyes.

“Charlie, go help Xander in the garden for an hour. And then you can help with painting some of the buildings,” Kira said. Charlie looked at Conner who shrugged.

“She’s the boss,” he said. Charlie wrinkled her nose, looked ready to fight about it before nodding and heading off in the direction Kira directed her. Conner waited until she was out of earshot. “Little harsh.”

“Don’t start,” Kira said.

“Come on, Kira. It’s not like she poisoned it or something,” Conner reminded her. “And Ethan did worse.”

“Ethan got detention.”

“That’s because he got caught. You know, that was probably the last time Principal Randall was actually being fair until she turned good,” Conner said. Kira glared at him.

“My punishment wasn’t fair, Conner! I never should have been in trouble in the first place!” She argued. Conner sighed.

“Will you relax, Kira?” He said, making sure to soften his voice a bit. He tried to give her a reassuring smile. “She’s doing great. Six months and she’s already stopped jumping at her own shadow. She doesn’t panic when Will and I are in the same room as her either. Hell, she hid behind me.”

“I just don’t want her trouble making to escalate,” Kira said. Conner looked seriously at his former teammate.

“I do.”

“Conner!”

“It means she’s okay with us,” Conner said. Kira looked at him in surprise. “She’s not scared we’re going to do anything to her. I don’t know what happened to her, Kira, but I know it affected her a lot and I know we’re not going to get her to see a psychiatrist. I know that any new guy we bring near her scares her. And I know she has this ‘I can handle it myself’ attitude. If she wants to prank around a bit, I don’t see the problem.”

“Stop being insightful. It’s scary.”

“Would it make you feel better if Trent and Ethan were involved and helped me figure stuff out?”

“Maybe a little,” Kira said. He wrapped his arms around her and she leaned into him. “When did life get difficult?”

“When we grew up. Doctor O should have warned us,” Conner joked. “Come on. We should go tell Tori we sorted it out.”

“How do you know Tori’s involved?”

“Because Tori knows everything that’s going on here,” he answered. “And because Madison would have been quieter about the fountain. Tori would have wanted to make sure she was the one to tell you about it.”

“You seem sure about that.”

“And I got a text about halfway through our conversation,” he said, holding up his phone for her to see. Sure enough, Tori’s name glowed. Kira sighed.

“You and Tori are ganging up on me again,” she accused.

“We’re looking out for you. Come on,” he said, leading her off. Kira let him keep the arm around her shoulders as they headed off to find Tori.

***

“How did she even get on the roof?” Madison asked, watching the girl cautiously. A quick glance showed her just how anxious Kira was as she watched her. Ronny, however, didn’t seem to notice as she looked on without too much worry.

“She’s being raised by a bird.”

“I’m not a bird, Ronny!”

“Yeah,” Conner said, his voice stressed. “She’s a pterodactyl.”

“Not what I meant, Conner.”

“Well,” Tori said, managing to keep her voice level. “One of us is going to have to go get her.”

While each and every one of them would have been willing to do so, their eyes immediately looked toward the former Black Overdrive Ranger. Will looked at them, rolled his eyes, and looked up. “She’s fine.”

“I don’t want her on the roof, Will!” Kira said. He sighed.

“It probably helps her think or something.”

Tori groaned. “Will, how much time did you spend on rooftops as a kid?”

“Not enough,” he answered before giving her a look. “Because people kept getting me off of them.”

Conner and Ronny both tried to hide their snickers, Madison held her head, Tori sighed, and Kira glared. “You brought it up to her, didn’t you?”

Will shrugged. “I might have mentioned it.”

“Will, go get her off the roof,” Kira demanded.

“Twenty years later and still no one understands,” he muttered. He glanced over to see Conner and Ronny giving him looks of encouragement which got him to grin. “Well, almost no one.”

Ronny and Conner managed to look innocent when Kira turned her look on them and Tori shared it. That said, they didn’t look either woman in the eyes either. Will looked up and started climbing. He silently thought it was probably a better idea if Conner and Ronny weren’t the two to do it since they’d try to race to the top and then Kira would blame him for Charlie trying to race up to roofs too. He was nearly certain this wouldn’t be her last trip up. He made his way to the top and headed over to where she was sitting. The ten year old looked at him, looking him over before she went back to looking out. As usual, he didn’t get too close and let her decide the divide. He sat down and waited a minute before he spoke up. “You’re scaring Kira.”

“I needed to think.”

“I know.”

“You said you used to.”

“I also told you that adults make you get down,” he reminded her. There was silence for a minute as they both just sat there.

“It’s quiet up here,” she tried again. Will nodded but she shook her head. “I don’t remember quiet.”

“It gets quiet at night,” Will offered. Charlie brought her legs up toward her chest and wrapped her arms around them.

“Not to me,” she whispered. Will almost missed it, but he swallowed when he heard the words. “I can still hear everything from… Before. It just gets louder.”

Will paused and tried to word his thoughts. “Charlie, we will never let that happen again.”

“You can’t promise that, Will,” she whispered. “And that’s okay. No one can.”

“Charlie…”

“No one can!” She nearly screamed. She took a ragged breath, closed her eyes, and calmed herself a bit. Will felt sick watching the little girl follow a ritual he knew she’d been forced to learn. He waited. “Sorry.”

“Don’t apologize,” he answered. There was silence between the two again. “You still need to get off the roof.”

“I don’t want to.”

“Doesn’t mean you don’t have to.”

“Will? Where do I go now?” He didn’t pretend he didn’t know what she meant.

“You’ll figure it out. As long as it’s not the roof.”

“Getting too old to climb after me?”

He snorted and looked at her as she smirked. “I don’t like to share,” he answered. To his amusement, she blinked in surprise. “When you grow up, you can climb on the roof too. Now come on before Kira kills us both.”

***

“Kira is going to murder us,” Conner said to Ronny as they piled into Ronny’s car. The woman just snorted as she pulled out her keys and set them in Charlie’s hands. The eleven year old’s eyes shown in delight as she put the keys in the car and started it up. Ronny relaxed in the passenger’s seat while Conner buckled up in the back. His face was a mix of uncertainty and anticipation.

“She should thank us,” Ronny said. “We’re teaching Charlie to drive. That’s like a worst thing ever for most people and we’re helping her with it.”

“Somehow, I don’t think Kira’s going to see it that way,” he said, leaning forward. “Okay, Charlie, can you reach the pedals?”

“Barely,” Charlie said, stretching as far as she could to reach.

“Make sure you’re comfortable with them,” Ronny warned. Charlie just nodded. After a minute of stretching, she relaxed and gave Ronny an anticipatory glance. Ronny grinned. She glanced back to make sure Conner was ready, to which he gave her a thumbs up, before turning back to Charlie. “Alright. Fix your mirrors so you can see out of them.”

Charlie did as she was told. “Done.”

“Turn on the ignition,” Ronny said. Conner watched quietly from the back, while glancing around to make sure Kira wasn’t going to show up. Or worse, Tori. Tori was always worse because of the ninja speed. He couldn’t see her coming. Still, nothing seemed out of the ordinary other than the two of them teaching a young girl to drive in the middle of a field while her other guardians remained blissfully ignorant. He watched the ignition turn on and the absolute glee on Charlie’s face. He inwardly sighed as he accepted that Kira killing him later was worth it. “Now, put it in drive.”

“Just drive?”

“For now,” Ronny instructed. Charlie did as she was told. “Foot off the brake and onto the gas. And… gun it!”

Charlie followed the instructions with a certain amount of glee. With nothing in the way, the car flew into motion as Ronny whooped in delight. Conner couldn’t hide his own grin as the wind flew past. He wasn’t about to let Charlie drive his car, that was his baby after all, but Ronny’s car was just as good. Sure the shocks and alignment were going to need to be checked over tomorrow, but for now, it didn’t matter. They were completely in the moment.

Ronny finally looked at her. “Slow down and turn,” she instructed. Charlie did as she was told and Conner was surprised at how well she took instruction when it was something she wanted to do. He made mental notes for when she was in his future class. “Let’s take her back more slowly, Charlie. We don’t want to scare anyone.”

“Right,” Charlie said as she concentrated. She took it back in more easily, slowing when Ronny told her to. Both woman and girl looked a bit upset about having to slow down, and Conner knew his face would match if he dared to look at it, but none of them complained. When they reached back to where they’d started, Ronny helped her get the car back in park, and Charlie turned off the ignition before looking at her teachers. Both of them were grinning at her. “Hey Conner? Ronny? Thanks.”

“Everyone needs to learn how to drive sometime,” Conner said with a slight shrug, trying to be cool about the whole thing.

“And who better to learn from than the best?” Ronny asked.

“The ‘best’ better get out of the car. Now.” All three occupants winced at Tori’s voice. Conner was pretty sure she had Will listen for things and then dealt with it herself. Or sent Ronny to do it when Ronny wasn’t involved. As it was, they all got out of the car and tried not to look sheepish. Other than Charlie, of course, who ignored the angry look on Tori’s face.

“Did you see me drive, Tori?” She asked. “I nailed it!”

Tori forced a smile forward as the girl looked so eager. “I saw.”

Charlie managed to look worried. “Conner and Ronny aren’t really in that much trouble are they?” She asked. Tori looked a little uneasy. “Because it really helped.”

Tori sighed. “I know what you’re doing, but I’ll let you get away with it this time. I’m not standing in Kira’s way though,” she said, heading off to talk to the headmistress. Conner and Ronny both looked as Charlie’s expression turned to a smirk.

“We’re even,” she said to their surprise as she headed off. “Seriously, though. Thanks. It helped me forget some stuff.”

“Let me know if you want to go again then,” Ronny said. Conner watched as the look on Charlie’s face seemed to sadden for a minute before picking back up. The days had been a break for her and he wondered if they’d ever be able to help her move on.

“I will,” she answered, heading off. Conner watched and exchanged a worried look with Ronny before he begged the Power to help her. He wasn’t sure what to do, but he knew it might. He just had to hope. For now, he’d go talk to Kira and see if he could get it to where she’d only maul the two of them instead of killing them outright.

***

Madison folded her arms and stood quietly, simply nodding when Tori joined her side. The rain poured down around them and Madison tried to push past her enjoyment of it. It wasn’t a heavy rainfall and it wasn’t quite cold enough to be uncomfortable. Yet, that wasn’t the reason she was out here to begin with. Tori looked over at her. “How long has she been out here?”

“About an hour,” Madison answered, trying not to disturb the girl who was curled up on one of the new benches, knees to her chin. “She seemed okay at first, then she just started to cry. That’s why I asked you to come.”

“Because she started crying?” Tori asked in surprise. Madison forced back the laugh.

“I’m the one who cried the most in my group,” she answered and Tori understood. Will, Kira, and Ronny might have been nice about it, but they hadn’t had to deal with teammates who were sobbing. Conner and Will were both out anyway if this was about what they thought it was about.

“Come with me?” Tori asked, not sounding nervous, but liking the idea of having someone to back her up. Madison nodded. They headed over and Tori wasn’t surprised to see Charlie trying to wipe her eyes dry. Tori absently wondered if the girl had even thought about blaming the rain. She took a seat down next to her while Madison sat on Tori’s other side so they didn’t overwhelm her. Tori didn’t reach over or say anything for a while. The sound of the rain kept it from being silent. “When I first got my powers, I tried to count the raindrops. I thought that since I had this new ability, I could do anything with it. I tried, but even with being able to affect water, I couldn’t do it. Then I tried to slow the rain so I could. It just splashed down right on me. Dustin and Shane laughed at me for about five minutes before they realized how upset I was.”

Charlie glanced over before glancing back at the ground. Tori paused and took a minute to recollect her thoughts. Finally, she spoke up again. “It wasn’t because I was wet or because I was disappointed. It was the lack of control,” she explained. Charlie’s head shot up to face Tori’s. Tori finally looked in her direction and met her eyes. “I didn’t like feeling out of control.”

Charlie bit her lip, stopped, and just looked at Tori for a while longer. After a couple more seconds, she burst into tears as Tori caught her. The ninja held her in her arms and just let her sob. After about five minutes, she heard Charlie mutter “It’s been four years! I shouldn’t have flashbacks after…”

Her throat caught and she couldn’t continue. Tori just held her in understanding. She looked up to see the horrified eyes of her fellow Blue as Madison caught on to what was wrong. “You can’t force yourself to get past it like this,” Tori assured her. “You’ll get there.”

“I’m not ready to talk about it,” Charlie admitted. Tori nodded.

“We can wait,” she promised. “We’ll wait as long as you need us to.”

She looked past to see Madison quietly calling Kira to let her know that Charlie’s birthday party would have to wait for a little while longer as the twelve year old just cried in her arms.

***

Kira sighed as she made her way across the roof over to where Charlie was sitting. Ever since Charlie’s breakdown a year before, Kira had tried to overlook her climbing up here and Charlie had sworn she wasn’t going to jump. It was a deal that still worried Kira, but she was willing to accept it if it gave Charlie what she needed. They’d called Cole for help and he’d come running to help out. While she still hadn’t admitted much, she seemed better afterward and Kira had gently began to encourage her to come to terms with what had happened. That said, part of what had come up was Charlie needed a place she could run to which is why Kira allowed the roof.

Charlie glanced up and moved over a bit to let Kira sit down. Kira had to admit that it was probably the pterodactyl in her, but the roof did feel more free than the ground. She let the air overtake her for a minute before bringing her head down and looking at Charlie. “I get why you like it up here.”

“You couldn’t have realized that when I was ten?” Charlie asked.

“Still learning how to do this guardian thing,” Kira answered. She dangled her legs a bit and Charlie looked amused. “So, are you okay?”

“Getting right to it?” Charlie asked. Kira shrugged.

“With a little luck, Cole will be sending people my way in a few days. The school is built, the teachers are ready, and Madison filled her office with everything she could think of that heals people. So, are you going to be okay with more people around?”

“You mean you want to know if I’m going to be okay to be around boys,” Charlie answered. Kira didn’t shirk back.

“Yep,” she answered. She had to admit that while other parents were worried about their thirteen year old girls talking to boys, she was just hoping that Charlie could handle going to classes with them.

“I can handle it,” Charlie answered. “That’s why I stayed here, right? To learn to be a Power Ranger? Besides, I’ve been around Conner and Will, Cole comes to visit, I’m tutored by Cam and Ethan, Dr. Oliver looks over my homework, and that’s not counting Xander, Chip, Dustin, Casey, Jarrod, and Tyzonn who are teachers here. I’ll be fine.”

“If someone does try to hurt you…”

“Then I’ll use all of those nice fighting techniques that you guys taught me,” she promised. “Tori showed me some really good ones.”

“Okay,” Kira said, relaxing a bit as they sat there.

“Kira?”

“Hmm?”

“What kind of person wants to fuck a kid?” Charlie asked, looking at her. Kira sighed and pulled Charlie to her.

“One that’s really messed up,” she answered.

“What kind of kid lets it happen?”

“The desperate kind,” Kira answered. “It’s not your fault, Charlie.”

“I’m trying to believe you.”

“I know. So, just know this: If you need us, we’re here. Can you accept that?”

“Kira, I learned to trust you guys a while ago.”

“Please tell me it wasn’t when Conner and Ronny took you joyriding?” Kira pleaded. She still snapped at them for that one every so often.

“I think it was more when Will understood why I was on the roof. The joyriding helped though,” she answered with a grin. Kira rolled her eyes.

“You are such a brat.”

“I learned from the best,” Charlie answered, not pulling herself out of the embrace. Kira didn’t push her away. If anything, she held her closer.

“So, let’s go get things ready for your future classmates, huh?” She asked, gently letting Charlie go and standing up. She held out a hand which Charlie took.

“Does getting ready for them include checking to make sure Chip didn’t leave out anything unsafe?”

“Charlie, if you blow up Chip’s classroom again, I’m going to be ticked,” Kira warned. 

“I’m just going to make sure it’s safe for students.”

“And stop talking to Xander!”


	7. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With Charlie mostly okay, it's finally time for the school to open. And Kira and Conner end up with another surprise.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it's been on hiatus so long! Hopefully, I won't do the same thing again. Thank you everyone who is still reading!

All in all, they looked like a good crop of kids if you asked Kira. Cole had outdone himself looking for as many kids as he could that would fit the criteria. Tori had mentioned that she wasn’t sure if it was a good thing that so many of them were possibilities, but Kira had ignored her in favor of ‘If I can’t hear the doomsday prophecy, it doesn’t exist’ philosophy. She’d realized it was a Conner thing to do, but she couldn’t handle more stress right now from something that might not happen. Instead, she was simply going to accept that they looked like good kids, she looked forward to getting to know them, and she was just going to take this one day at a time.

“We should have built you a tower,” Conner said, learning in the doorway with a grin. “You’re acting like you’re in a tower anyway.”

“Conner, in half an hour, I need to go and grab Charlie, convince her to stand out there with the rest of the students instead of hiding in her room, call together the herd of cats you guys call teachers, and pretend like I have a grip on things,” she informed him. “Let me have this.”

“Tori is wrangling the teachers. That’s why you have an underboss. Madison coaxed Charlie out of her room five minutes ago. And you’ve got this! We prepared, we’re ready, we just need the Boss to go out there and take them on!”

Kira spared him a slight smile. “Anything I should know about?”

“I looked through the new students,” Conner answered. “They’re mostly normal.”

“Mostly?” Kira asked and Conner shrugged.

“There was one that Cole told me about and I checked him out. He’s an alien,” Conner answered. “He kinda looks like a weird walrus.”

“I’m surprised we don’t have more aliens or beings from Mystic Force’s neck of the woods,” she said honestly. “What’s the kid like?”

“He doesn’t talk much,” Conner said, looking a little uncomfortable. “We should probably bring him to your office when we’re done.”

“Because he’s an alien?” Kira asked, her tone implying that she expected better from her friend.

“No,” Conner answered. “Because he was a pet.”

Kira paused, pulled herself from the window and headed over to him. “What?” She demanded, grabbing his arms. He didn’t shake her off.

“Cole mentioned that he found him with this rich family and they were keeping him as a pet,” Conner said again. “He didn’t get much out of the kid, but he answers to the name Blue.”

“Alright. I’m going to go out there, convince these kids that we have everything under control, and then you, Camille, Xander, Tori and I are going to talk to Blue,” she said. She was pleased when Conner didn’t question her on any of them, already knowing why she chose them. Camille could translate if they could get the kid to talk, Xander was their resident diplomat, Conner was emotional support, and Tori was second in command.

“One crisis at a time?” Conner joked. Kira nodded and sighed. “Sounds good. Let’s go get them, Boss.”

“Conner!”

***

Kira was pleased to see each of her teachers standing and waiting. Madison, Ronny, and Will were off to one side, Conner took his place next to his fellow teachers, though he threw a wink at his cohorts, and Tori stood to the right and back of where Kira would be. She headed over to the podium and looked out. There weren’t too many kids to be honest. Only a good thirty at the moment and most of them were just looking a little confused and unsure of everything. She was easily able to make out Charlie and Blue, the former standing a bit away from her classmates and the latter unfortunately sticking out a bit though he was trying to stay by the other students. She took a breath and began.

“Welcome to Rainbow Academy,” she said. “You have all been chosen because we believe that one day, you could be Power Rangers. This school was set up to prepare you with that in mind. All of you have seen Power Rangers and you know that they fight evil, but that’s not all there is to being a Power Ranger. You must be a good person. You need to care about people on the whole and individually. That doesn’t mean you’re perfect, but it means that you should do your best as a person.

“So, let’s start with introductions. I’m Headmistress Ford and I’m the head of this school. If you have a problem that no one else can get done, I’m the one you come to. To my right is Ms. Hanson. She’s the deputy Headmistress of the Academy. If you can’t find me, you go to her. Mr. Aston is in charge of security. Ms. Rocca is the school nurse. Ms. Robinson, I’m sure some of you are already familiar with.”

There were a few cheers at the last one which Ronny joined in on. Kira stifled her sigh, waited a few seconds, and continued. “While you’re here, we have various classes for you to take. Mr. Brooks’ Ranger History is mandatory as is Training with Mr. Rhodes and Team Cohesion with Mr. McKnight. Other classes are Diplomacy with Mr. Bly, Magic Basics with Mr. Thorne, Languages with Ms. Camille, Battle Tactics with Mr. Jarrod, and Planetary History with Mr. Tyzonn. We’ll help you figure out what you want to take and would be best suited for. I have faith in each and every one of you that you will do your best and bring pride to this school and all former Power Rangers. Remember: Once a Ranger, Always a Ranger. Feel free to check out the school and see Ms. Hanson when you’re ready to figure out classes. She and Mr. Bly will be helping you. May the Power protect and guide you.”

With that and the cheering behind her, Kira turned and headed back to her office. For the first time since this whole thing started, she felt truly in charge and that they could do anything. Which is why when Conner made his way in behind her with a young alien boy in tow, she was feeling like she could handle it. She made a mental note to check on Charlie later to make sure she was still handling things well before she turned her attention to the young male in front of her.

“Good morning,” she said, motioning for him to have a seat. He took it and just looked at her. “First off, do you understand English?”

The boy nodded and Kira smiled. “Good. We can start with that. Can you speak English?” She said the second time. He paused before hesitating and giving a slight nod. She relaxed again. “Okay. You’re not in trouble. Mr. McKnight informed me of your background.”

She could have sworn he was starting to panic and Conner was quick to step in. “Hey, we’re not going to send you back! We just need to know about some stuff, okay?”

The boy nodded, but didn’t seem too happy about it. Kira continued. “Would it be okay for you to tell us what happened?”

“I guess,” the boy answered. It was almost raspy and Kira couldn’t help but to wonder if that was his normal voice or if it was just from lack of use. “What do you want to know?”

Kira thought about it for a minute before she decided to just jump right in. “Mr. McKnight mentioned that the family you were with was keeping you as a pet.”

He nodded. “I was little when we got to Earth. I couldn’t understand the language and I lost my mom and dad. Miss Karen found me and took me home. No one else had a pet like me, so they wanted to make their friends jealous.”

Kira did her best not to wince and was relieved when she noticed Conner doing the same. “You understand that you’re going to be treated like everyone else here, right?” She asked. The boy nodded. “And that we think you can be a good Power Ranger?”

“Yes, Headmistress Ford,” he answered. She wished she knew if he was lying or not. She decided to take him at his word.

“I do want you to talk to someone about this,” she said. “I’d suggest Cole and I can ask him, if that’s alright.”

“Yes, Headmistress.”

“Good. Now, since I have some free time, how about we look over classes?” She asked. He looked up at her and she found herself proud that she didn’t jump when all of his eyes focused on her.

“I thought you weren’t giving me special treatment,” he said. She wasn’t sure if he was joking or not and she could only hope that she’d figure it out in time.

“Well, Blue… That name is okay, right?” She said after a pause. He nodded. “Like I said, I have some free time and you seem uncomfortable with everyone. You’re going to have to get past it, but I think we can make an exception today. Right, Mr. McKnight?”

“Sound right to me,” Conner said. He grinned at the boy. “Trust me on this: Planetary History is probably a good one.”

“How many classes do I take?” He asked.

“Five per year,” Conner said. “One for each day of the week. You have to take Ranger History, Training, and Team Cohesion. The others are optional. So, let me ask you a question: What are you good at?”

Blue looked surprised. “Good at?” He asked.

“Yep. What interests you out of the others because that’s what you should take. The Power picks the person it feels will suit different things better and nothing’s wrong. Trust me, you’ll have a well-rounded team. So, what sounds interesting?”

“Battle Tactics,” he answered softly. Conner nodded.

“Sounds good to me!” He said cheerfully. Blue just looked at him a little strangely before he noticed Kira’s slightly exasperated look. He paused for a minute before looking back at Conner.

“Cole said everyone here was a Power Ranger once,” he said quietly. Conner nodded. “You two… were on the same team?”

Kira looked impressed. “We were,” she said. “How did you guess?”

Blue looked like he was struggling for the answer and both Kira and Conner just let him think about it for a minute. “You two work together fluidly,” he finally answered. “You know how to talk without interrupting each other. You act like friends, but there’s something more.”

Conner grinned. “I think Tactics are probably a good class for you,” he said. “What do you think, Boss?”

“I think you should stop calling me that,” Kira said before a smile of her own came. “Tactics would probably work well for you, Blue, and I think you’ll do just fine here. I’ll call Cole in the morning and we’re here if you want to talk or need anything. Also, I think it would be for the best if you remained at the school.”

At that, Blue nearly collapsed into relief and Kira wished she’d mentioned that first. ‘Of course he thinks we were going to send him back! He doesn’t know anything else!’ She felt the need to smack herself for that one. He looked at her. “You want me to stay here?”

“Yep,” Conner said, giving his teammate time to collect herself. “We’re never sending you back there. We’ll take care of that problem, but we want you to feel safe. There’s a girl, Charlie, who lives here too. You two are our only live-ins at the moment, but that just means no roommates!”

Kira looked at him. “Ms. Robinson will show you to your room. Why don’t you take the day to get acquainted? I’ll be around if you need me.”

“Yes, Headmistress.” Kira could hear the newfound enthusiasm in his voice, even if it was still a bit distrustful. She would have been worried if it hadn’t been.

“Dismissed,” she said and Conner called down the hall for Ronny as he let Blue out. They waited until the kid was on his way before Conner shut the door and turned to Kira, waiting for the headmistress to start. “We’ll need to make sure Charlie doesn’t start anything with him.”

“Stop assuming the worst, Kira,” Conner told her. “I think he’ll be fine. We’ll keep an eye on him.”

Kira nodded. “You’re right,” she admitted reluctantly. “So, we’ll keep an eye on Charlie and him and make sure Cole is available.”

“And I talked to Tori,” he told her. “She can watch Charlie and Blue tonight.”

“What are we doing tonight?”

“Helping you relax,” he answered.

***

Kira probably shouldn’t have been as surprised as she was, but it was still a slight annoyance that Conner had managed to get the whole staff involved. All of the teachers did a quick show of their classes and syllabus to remind her they were ready. Madison insisted that Chip and Ethan had informed her that she was allowed to order Kira to rest because she was the school nurse. Kira was very much considering banning Star Trek because of that. Ronny said she could give Conner and Kira a lift to Reefside in the ‘bus’ and pick them up in the morning while Will assured her that he had the security down pat so she needn’t worry. Tori assured her that she had everything under control and Charlie had just cheekily waved.

“How long have you had this planned?” She demanded from Conner. He snickered.

“Over a month,” he answered. “When I caught you counting chalk.”

“I was not!” Kira snapped. “Stop exaggerating.”

Conner didn’t apologize in the least, but just shrugged. “You need this, Boss. The rest of the Family knows it.”

“Don’t call me, Boss, Conner,” she scolded before looking at Tori. “Are you sure about this?”

“You haven’t taken a day off since before we took in Charlie,” Tori answered. “You need this. And Doctor Oliver has been trying to get you to come back for half a year. You need to go visit.”

It was true. Kira hadn’t been back to Reefside in a long time. She had nothing against her hometown, but like the rest of her staff, it had been easier to move in to take care of Charlie. The others had come and gone on daily holidays, but Kira had firmly stayed. Ethan and Trent had taken to visiting often, always claiming that they were there to help her and then only distracting her the entire time. Conner had often complained that she was turning into their former mentor more and more every day which is why he had set this up.

The ‘bus’ pulled up alongside them. It didn’t look much like a bus other than it was long. It looked more like a shuttle without the jets at the end. Conner leapt onto it and looked back at her. Kira just sighed. “Thanks,” she said to Tori.

“I’ll make sure they don’t burn the place down,” she said with a smirk. “Have fun!”

Kira nodded and waved behind her as the bus took off.

***

Lying on the floor and not having to think about anything was one of the best feelings in the world for Kira. Doing it while she was near the rest of her former team, spread out so the five of them made a star was even better. Finally, doing all of that while Hayley handed her a smoothie was just what she needed. She giggled as Hayley headed back over to Tommy once she’d finished handing them out and pushed him over until she had half of the blanket to lay on. It had surprised all of her team when they found out that Tommy and Hayley weren’t dating, but it made moments like that even more amusing to Kira especially when Hayley proceeded to take his pillow right after.

The other three members of her team were snickering around about something Kira didn’t care about. Honestly, she was just glad that the three of them were as close as ever, Conner having forgiven them years ago for abandoning him. Both Ethan and Trent had completely offered to help when Charlie had come into the picture in any way they could. “How’s Charlie?” She looked over to see Tommy looking at her. She sighed.

“Could be better, but I think she’ll be able to handle the incoming students,” she answered. “She wanted to know when you were going to stop by next.”

Kira had worried about introducing Tommy to Charlie. The young woman still seemed to be anxious constantly around older men, something Kira had the feeling she wouldn’t grow out of, and Tommy was even older than her staff. She was pretty sure that Tommy had grilled Cole about the situation before he got there because he’d been patient and understanding through the whole thing. He’d quietly let her lead the conversation and as years had gone on, Charlie had gotten fond of Kira’s former teacher even if she still tensed up a bit as she did with any man that came near her.

“As soon as I can,” he promised. “For all three of you.”

“I’m fine, Doctor O!” Conner protested. “Kira’s the stressed out one.”

Tommy shot his former Red Ranger a look. “I think I’ll check in on you all the same,” he said wryly. Hayley looked over, ready to diffuse the situation.

“How do you feel about classes starting?” She asked. Ethan and Trent’s interest picked up as well as Conner and Kira exchanged an uneasy look. Conner took the lead.

“Not ready,” he answered. “If it was on soccer, I’d feel fine. But since someone put me in charge of Team Cohesion…”

“This whole thing was your fault,” she reminded him.

“It was Doctor O’s fault,” Conner argued.

“It was Jason, Andros, and T.J.’s faults,” Tommy shot back.

“Anyway,” Conner continued. “Unlike Xander and Chip, I’m not feeling as confident about things. And with Charlie and Blue to worry about…”

“Who’s Blue?” Trent cut in. Conner winced.

“One of the new students,” he answered. He didn’t have to look to know that Tommy’s eyes were on him as well.

“Why do you need to keep on eye on him?” Tommy asked. Conner tried not to sigh.

“Because he used to be a pet and we want to make sure he’s going to be okay,” Conner answered. When all of them just stared at him, he figured he should offer some sort of explanation. “He’s an alien.”

There was silence for a minute and then Ethan spoke up. “Nope, that still doesn’t explain how he was a pet.”

“He was separated from his parents and brought home by a wealthy woman who thought he’d be unique when she was showing him off to her friends. And now we have to try to fix all of the damage she made,” Kira said. She glanced over at Tommy. “At least you didn’t have to deal with that with us.”

“No,” Tommy said soothingly. “And you four weren’t that bad.”

“Well, being headmistress just got more interesting,” she muttered.

“You’ll be fine, Boss,” Conner said, trying to distract her. She looked up enough to glare at him, even as she knew what he was doing.

“Conner! Stop calling me that,” she said. Tommy quickly intervened.

“Conner, stop picking on Kira,” he scolded. Conner shrugged, but backed down as Tommy knew he would. “Drink your smoothies.”

“Yes, Doctor O,” all four teens said. Tommy sighed and looked at Hayley would was just trying not to laugh. Tommy looked over at Conner and Kira.

“I’m sorry,” he told them. “I want you guys to be able to get out of this world…”

“Once a Ranger,” Kira started.

“Always a Ranger,” Conner finished. Both of them smiled at their former teacher as Conner continued. “We’ve got this, Doctor O. We just know we can complain here without one of the kids overhearing.”

“Well that brings me back,” Hayley muttered. Tommy shot her a look and all four of the younger Rangers looked a mix between insulted and amused. Hayley caught their looks and decided to continue embarrassing her old friend. “He would call me once you guys were out the door and I’d have to bring over pizza and listen to him whine about whatever was bothering him. ‘Conner didn’t pass his test.’ ‘Ethan got distracted by video games during practice.’ ‘Kira wants to train to music again.’ ‘Trent was distracted. Are we sure he’s not evil?’ That last one was when you were keeping your dad a secret, Trent.”

“I guessed,” Trent said calmly. Kira wasn’t sure when, but time and a persistent Tommy and Hayley had helped each of them get past any other high school insecurities. It was a major reason why Conner and Kira kept running back to their mentor when they had problems with the school.

“What Hayley is trying to say,” Tommy said, glaring at his friend. “Is we’re here if you need us and you can always come home.”

Kira and Conner both nodded, but Kira was just enjoying relaxing too much. She leaned back and noticed that Conner gave her a small encouraging smile before he went back to talking with Ethan and Trent, heading into the verbal sparing that the four of them lived for. She would have joined in, but the ground felt too welcoming.

She barely noticed when Tommy sat down next her. “You should come visit more often. Bring Charlie. She could use another break.”

“I don’t think if I bring her that it counts as a vacation,” she teased. “But I think I’ll do it anyway.”

“Good,” Tommy said. Kira leaned over and set her head on Tommy’s shoulder.

“You could have warned us being an adult wasn’t as easy as we thought it would be,” she informed him.

“I didn’t expect you to create a Ranger School, Kira,” he answered dryly. “But as much as I worry, I know you’ll be fine.”

“Because you trained us?” She asked a bit sardonically. Tommy laughed.

“No,” he answered. “Because Elsa and Hayley talk to me.”

Kira laughed as Tommy gave her shoulder a squeeze. She had been getting advice from both women on what to do: Elsa from a principal’s point of view and Hayley on a ‘herding the cats’ point of view. “I talk to you too.”

“I know,” he answered, gasping out a bit and glaring at Conner who had collapsed into him.

“You don’t reassure me that much,” he complained. Ethan and Trent both snickered as they landed near them. 

“You don’t need it,” Tommy answered. “You just want to complain.”

“You could still be reassuring,” Conner muttered. Tommy rolled his eyes, smirked, and ruffled Conner’s hair to his protest before managing to fake sympathy.

“Poor Conner,” he said. Conner fixed his hair and glared, glancing at Kira.

“Mentor’s pet,” he snipped. She laughed.

“Jealous,” she teased. He rolled his eyes and pulled away from Tommy, going back to verbally sparring with Ethan and Trent. To Kira’s amusement, Tommy joined in every so often and Hayley would throw in a good snipe. She did need to bring Charlie here next time. The family wasn’t complete without her.


	8. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The school year begins as Blue gets used to his surroundings and Conner brings up a very good point.

“Kira!” The headmistress’s head wiped up at the shout. It didn’t sound worried, which surprised her, but instead was full of fury. Xander was in her office before she could even call for him to enter. She knew that she should have been annoyed, but she was more curious to see why her friend was so upset. “A pet?!”

That would do it. Kira sighed and pushed the hair out of her face to give herself a minute to compose herself. “He’s not anymore, Xander. He’s a potential Ranger now.”

“Someone made him a pet! Because he was a little different!” Xander snapped. She understood. She wasn’t happy about it either, but the Mystic Force rangers were part of a mixed community. “Look, Briarwood had prejudice too, but none of us ever made others pets! Clare and Phineas still argue over who is parent to the dragon. Jenji is a member of the family. Catastros is Leanbow’s partner. Phineas is one of our best friends! Matoombo DJs with Vida on Fridays.”

“Xander! I know!” Kira called out again and Xander stopped in the middle of his tirade to look at her, calming down a bit. “We can’t change that. Right now, Earth doesn’t have many aliens. If we go with it, it will be a long court battle that would take years. Blue doesn’t want to do that. He wants to stay here.”

“So, they just get away with it?” Xander asked, looking horrified. Kira rubbed her temples. 

“I made some calls, talked to some very good lawyers and they all agreed that we could probably win it, but that Blue would have to be there. You can’t force him to,” Kira said. “They’re looking into it more, but right now, aliens don’t have rights.”

“What if it happens again?” Xander asked. Kira gave him a small smile.

“Briarwood would let that happen?” She asked. He blinked and then grinned.

“Kira! You’re brilliant!” He called out, heading out of the room.

“Xander! Leave it to Vida! I need all my teachers!” She called out. He paused in the doorway.

“Might want to go grab Chip then,” he cheekily informed her. She just groaned.

***

She could already hear them when she got close to Chip’s classroom. Chip was enthusiastically explaining something or another to someone and considering that teaching was over for the day, she had a feeling it wasn’t for his class. Her suspicions were confirmed when she looked inside and Blue was watching with a quiet fascination as Chip was performing minor magic. What she was surprised over was that Charlie was sitting further back, quietly watching. She wasn’t next to Blue, but she was close enough to watch and more importantly closer than she got to other students. Chip glanced up, saw Kira and quickly finished it, putting it behind his back.

“Did that actually work with Udonna?” Kira asked in amusement. Chip looked a little sheepish causing Kira to sigh.

“Not really,” he admitted. “It didn’t work with Daggeron either.”

“Aren’t you a knight or something?” She teased and he joined in with her laugh. Charlie actually looked surprised.

“You’re a knight?” She asked. He grinned back at her.

“Daggeron seemed a little worried when I finished training, but yep!” He said. Blue looked intrigued by that and Kira felt a bit of relief wash over her. Between Xander being out for proverbial blood and Chip cheerfully showing off, she felt better about leaving Blue alone with them. She still had Charlie to deal with after all.

“What are you doing?” She said instead, playing the headmistress that they’d elected her to be. 

“Hiding,” Chip said. She looked at him and he laughed. “Madison’s been going a bit overboard.”

 _Three for three._ Kira thought. “Overboard?”

“She’s being a mother hen,” Chip said. “I called Nick to see if he could slow her down, but we’re hiding.”

“In your classroom?” She asked.

“Maddie won’t think to look here,” he answered. Kira wanted to disagree, but Madison probably wanted to believe that Chip wouldn’t hide in the first place she should look. 

“Why didn’t you call Vida?” She asked and Chip rolled his eyes.

“Because Vida’s out for blood,” Chip said. “And none of us feel like dealing with tornados.”

She really needed to stop talking to the Mystic Force Rangers. Instead, she forced back her sigh. “You two still go to classes,” she said firmly to Blue and Charlie. “You still teach your classes. And no explosions!”

She started out the door before pausing. “And Chip? I’m pretty sure it still counts as self-gain or whatever you call it if you give Charlie or Blue a hammer and add in lightening around it to pretend they’re Thor. Plus it freaks Ronny out.”

“Alright,” he said cheerfully. She nodded and headed away from the class, deciding to ignore the shouts of “SHAZAM!” behind her.

***

There were far fewer incidents for those first couple of weeks than she would have anticipated. She’d been expecting explosions, fire, possibly a swarm of locusts, but instead there were only a few minor injuries and a little damage to Chip’s classroom. She considered that a win. She was also pleased that even if they were more cut off from the other students, Blue and Charlie were hanging around each other more often. Sure, she was pretty sure that they would cause problems as a team, but she was willing to accept that right now.

“One week down!” She looked over to see Conner grinning at her. Tori was directly behind him, looking amused. “Only the rest of our lives to go!”

“One day,” Tori said calmly. “One of the ninja students will end up here. And they’ll become a Ranger. And then I can retire.”

“I’m counting on Charlie taking over,” Kira agreed. Conner snorted.

“You really think that they will?” He asked. “Nope.”

“You’re here,” she argued. “And no one said they’d have a vote. I didn’t get a vote.”

Tori just laughed as she glanced out Kira’s window. “We can worry about it later,” she said. “For now, we have students, our two difficult students are bonding, and nothing is on fire.”

“Why do we keep worrying about fire?” Conner asked. “Tori and Madison make water. We should worry about hurricanes or something.”

“Hurricanes are made of water and air, Conner,” Kira said with a sigh. “Which we learned at the same time. In Doctor O’s class.”

“But the winds can cause damage,” Conner argued. Tori shook her head.

“I’m going to cut in before you two have another thirty minute argument,” she said. “The point is that it’s going okay. I’m just still worried about how many there are.”

“Lalala! I can’t hear you!” Kira said with a glare, complete with covering her ears. Tori rolled her eyes.

“What I mean is,” Tori said. “We’re in our first year. What if there are more next year?”

“Underboss has a point,” Conner said. “But maybe we’re looking at this wrong.”

Both of them motioned for him to continue. “Spill it, Consigliere,” Tori said dryly. Both ignored Kira’s groan at the nicknames. She was pretty sure they did it to annoy her.

“What if they’re all not just Rangers. Think about it. Sure, Doctor O became a Ranger again, but Hayley never did. And Cassidy and Devon have both totally managed to help other teams keep their secret identities,” he said. Kira looked thoughtful at that.

“Should we change the training?” She asked. Tori shook her head.

“If Conner is right, the same classes that help Rangers would help future non-Ranger family members too,” she said. “Imagine a mentor with diplomacy. A tech fluent in other alien languages. Someone in the know who helps Rangers find the help they need.”

Kira looked thoughtful at the entire thing before nodding. “We keep going like we have been. If it does look like that’s what’s going on, we bring in others to talk to the non-Ranger students. Like Hayley and Cassidy. That way they understand that they’re still important, still family, and still here.”

The other two nodded. Conner looked at her. “What do we tell the others?”

“Nothing yet,” she said. “Let’s give it a couple of months and see if any patterns happen.”

Tori snorted. “You realize that this means we might end up with several techs?” She asked. Kira paled.

“And call Hayley,” she instructed Conner. “I want her on standby.”

“Do you want me to call Cam?” Tori asked and Kira shook her head.

“He’s got his own school to run,” she said. “I’ll call him tomorrow to give him a heads up, but he should stay there.”

Tori gave her a suspicious look. “Do you keep in contact with Cam?” She asked. Kira looked surprised.

“I thought you knew!” She admitted. “I keep in contact with Theo too. He’s not headmaster of his school, but he knows enough. We need to stay organized. Alright. For now, we keep this between the three of us. And probably Will.”

Conner looked at her strangely. “Why Will?”

“One, he’s head of security so it’s good to let him know. Two, I think he eavesdrops on me to make sure I’m okay,” she answered. “So he probably knows. And this isn’t an important secret. It’s more of a ‘I want to see what happens naturally’ secret.”

“Got it,” Conner said. “I’ll go call Hayley.”

“I’ll go keep an eye on things while you call Cam,” Tori said, following him out. Kira sat back in her chair and closed her eyes for a second before reopening them.

“Okay,” she said to the empty room before picking up the phone. “Cam? It’s Kira. We need to talk.”


	9. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Students are unruly, unpredictable, and as of this time fortunately do not have super powers. This is the only saving grace Kira can think of.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mat is the Yellow Ranger eventually. Tyson is Green. Yuki is Pink. http://powerrangers.wikia.com/wiki/Category:A-Squad_Rangers
> 
> Yes, they have issues too. Yes, they will be covered later. :)

Everything had been going so well. There weren’t that many problems, the classes were going fine, Cam and Theo had both acknowledged her reports, and there were still zero attacks on the school. Other than other non-teacher Rangers showing up and leaving when they felt like it, everything was going smoothly. So when Will had come to her, she knew that her easy time was over.

“So, Blue and Charlie took off?” Ronny asked. 

Kira nodded briskly. “Conner and Jarrod both said they missed their classes. Which means they’ve been gone that long at least.”

“Anyone else missing?” Tori asked as she came up behind them. They turned to look at her. Kira sighed.

“Mat and Tyson,” Kira answered. She felt a hand on her shoulder and glanced over to see Madison.

“Conner just let me know that a girl, Yuki, took off as well,” she informed them. “She was apparently distracting Jarrod so he didn’t notice Mat and Tyson take off, but then she disappeared before Conner’s class. Conner’s pretty put out.”

“Well, he tries to make that class enjoyable,” Kira said. “He said he didn’t want it to be a borefest.”

“I am really starting to doubt Cole’s ability,” Tori muttered and Kira gave her a look.

“I don’t think we have any right to judge on this one,” she muttered back. Tori winced and nodded. The two girls shared a look and refused to look at their colleagues. After a minute, Madison spoke up.

“What are Mat, Tyson, and Yuki’s stories?” She asked. Kira sighed.

“I don’t know,” she said honestly. “They didn’t tell much to Cole. R.J. took an interest in Tyson, but there’s nothing there yet. He just said something in R.J. speak that Tyson needed him and I had Camille translate for me. They just haven’t been here long enough for us to get to know them.”

“Except Charlie,” Will snapped, angry at the girl they’d been caring for. Kira tried not to take it personally.

“Except Charlie,” she agreed. She had to admit that she felt a bit betrayed by her charge. They’d tried hard and even if the relationship wasn’t perfect, she didn’t think that Charlie needed to run off like this. She felt a hand on her shoulder and looked to see Tori.

“Not your fault,” she said sternly. Will paused, looking over. For a split second, he looked a bit horrified by what he’d said, but he covered it back up. He didn’t apologize, but Kira took the action for what it was. Tori was quiet before she spoke up again. “Blue is with them.”

“So, they probably didn’t go anywhere public,” Madison said. Kira could hear the disdain in that statement for what it was, though she politely ignored it. 

“Which means they’re still probably on the outskirts,” Kira concluded. She glanced at Will. “Anything?”

“Give me a minute,” he said, closing his eyes and listening hard. The action would let him expand his hearing further. He listened, zoning out the wind and other distractions as he’d learned to do. After a minute, he nodded. “I think they’re that way.”

Kira gave a nod to Tori and Ronny. “Make sure they can’t run off,” she instructed. The two nodded to her and raced off. Will stayed at her side as Madison stayed back, blocking the third direction. Kira headed over to the kids, relaxing a bit when she heard all five voices.

“This really is probably bad plan,” Yuki said as she looked over at Charlie who was completely relaxed on the ground. “They’re going to be mad.”

“They’ll get over it,” Charlie answered. “You needed a break. I got you a break.”

“So why did everyone have to come?” Yuki asked.

“Safety in numbers,” Blue answered quietly at Charlie’s side. Charlie gave a nod in agreement.

“Exactly. We’re training at a school for Power Rangers. I really don’t want to get killed by some super villain looking for an easy fight,” she answered. Tyson looked amused.

“And you think all of us stand a chance?” He asked. “Because I don’t remember Mat, Yuki, or Blue knowing how to fight.”

“And you can?” Mat argued.

“Yeah. I can,” he answered, adjusting his stance a bit. Kira watched them all carefully. The relaxed look on Charlie’s face shifted every so often as if she were listening, but she consistently looked at Blue who was being more observant. Mat looked a little wary, but was still part of the group. Tyson looked ready to take on the world and made small glances in Charlie’s direction. Yuki looked the most out of place, but she was also the newest girl to the group. She had the feeling her staff was watching the five as well and she had the feeling they were coming to the same conclusion she was. She just hoped it wouldn’t happen for a long time.

“So, we stay away for a bit and we’ll head back after McKnight’s class is over,” Charlie said. “No problem.”

“Major problem,” Kira said, finally stepping out. Charlie was off the ground in an instant as Blue whipped his head over. The others were already back up and it was Yuki who managed to call out what they were all thinking.

“Headmistress!” She gasped. Kira folded her arms and looked at her.

“What have we told you lot over and over?” She demanded. All of them looked at the ground, even Charlie to an extent. “Don’t just run off!”

“We could have been anyone,” Tori said, coming up from behind them. Kira tried not to be amused at their surprise. She failed. “You could have gotten killed.”

“Or kidnapped,” Ronny chirped as she came up from another side. Will was at her side soon after.

“Or hurt,” Madison said, coming up the final side and looking at them with a lot of worry and a side of annoyance. Kira nodded in agreement with her staff.

“All of you. Back to the school. Now,” she demanded. “Before I throw you all out.”

It was a false threat, but it did the trick as all of them other than Charlie took off. Charlie glared at Kira. “You wouldn’t.”

“Don’t try me right now,” Kira answered. “Move.”

Charlie thought about pushing it, but the look on Kira's face made her decide against it. She instead sulked as she followed them back to the school. Kira looked out to see Conner looking back at them a little worried. She gave him a reassuring nod and motioned to the teens. He visually relaxed. "You scared Mr. McKnight," she scolded. "You know better."

There were several "Sorry, Mr. McKnights" from the group as they all realized the trouble they'd caused. Kira looked at all of them seriously.

"Charlie, Blue. We'll be having talks later. You three, I want you in my office and I want some reasons for why you went along with this," she said, keeping the underscoring 'I want your backgrounds' subtle.

They all slinked off. Conner looked at Kira who gave him a small smile. "I'll find out why."

He nodded, trying not to look hurt by the entire thing and failing miserably. She sighed and headed to her office, looking over Mat, Tyson, and Yuki with a firm eye. She had to admit that it was almost hypocritical for her to be giving the ‘fly straight’ speech, but she had been in detention because Elsa wanted her there rather than for a more valid reason like the boys. Technically, Conner probably had the least amount of moral high ground, but he hadn’t been mad but merely hurt since he’d spent a great deal of time trying to be better than his previous teachers. She knew for a fact that he’d be going over the curriculum ad nauseam because of this.

She folded her hands together and waited a minute before she looked at each of them in turn, seemingly trying to decide who to start with. Considering that Charlie and Blue weren’t with them, she wasn’t surprised to see them starting to be fidgety. Finally, she looked at Tyson who was doing the best job not fidgeting. “Well?”

“We just wanted to get away for a bit,” he answered. It wasn’t the answer she wanted, but at least it was mostly honest.

“Why?” She asked. She knew it was for Yuki’s sake. She’d overheard them, of course, but that didn’t mean that she didn’t want it spelled out for her. After all, she didn’t want to be accused of assuming things. She watched as Tyson tried not to show any sort of emotion, but he did glance at Yuki quickly before looking away. She recognized the look on his face as she'd had it before when Tommy had has one of the four of them who had done something and they didn't want to betray each other. She sighed and turned to Yuki, looking as gentle as possible. "We overheard, Yuki, that they left for your sake. I need to know why."

She looked absolutely horrified by this and Kira tried not to wince. She had no idea what the problem was, but she knew that it was bothering the girl at the very least. Tyson stood up. "Headmistress..."

"Sit down, Tyson," she said gently. She paused before continuing. "The truth is, I don't know a lot about your backgrounds and I know that you're not going to want to share with me. Especially not right now. I can live with that. But you are getting a more mentor-like teacher. All of you."

"Charlie and Blue..." Tyson tried to protest, but she shot him down.

"Did Charlie tell you how long she's been here?" She asked. They shook their heads. "She was my first student in the school. She doesn't have a teacher, you're right, but that's because she has me. Blue is constantly checked on by Mr. Bly, Mr. Thorne, and Ms. Rocca. Now, I would appreciate it if there weren’t any more complaints."

"Who are we going to go with?" Yuki asked quietly. She turned to the girl and her face softened.

"I'm not sure yet," she admitted. "I'll let you know. For now, I want you back in class. I need my students in class and learning. If you're not, then I can't have a place for you here."

They all looked horrified by that and Kira wanted to take the words back. She was more than sure about Cole's choice with these three as well as Blue and Charlie. She was the student of Tommy Oliver. If she didn't see the early beginnings of a Ranger team, she would have been disgusted with herself. Yet, right now, she needed them to take it seriously. She gave them each a stern nod and pointed toward the door which they each headed out of. She sat back in her desk and waited. Sure enough, Tori was at her side soon after.

"How did it go?" Tori asked, taking her seat on Kira's desk. Kira shrugged.

"As well as you'd expect," she said honestly. "I decided that they needed mentors, threatened to expel them, and forced myself not to take the words back for what I'm pretty sure will be future Rangers. It's not even like the Power was mad at me for it, but more like I felt like I was hurting family."

"Let them become family first," she teased. "And we had to do similar things with Operation Overdrive. Just think of it like that."

"You know that feeling when you realize you're becoming like your parents even though you swore you never would?" She asked. Tori nodded. "I feel like that, but it's more like becoming like Dr. O and Hayley and I think the four of us swore that would never happen."

Tori laughed and reached over to squeeze her friend's hand. "We'll get through it," she said. "But for the record, I've started to feel like Cam. Dustin teased me about it the other day."

"Is that why I found him in the fountain?" Kira asked. Tori grinned.

"It wasn't that bad," she said. "And he didn't say it again."

Kira laughed and the smile went to her eyes. "So, facility meeting to find out who wants more responsibility?"

"Misery loves company," Tori answered dryly.


	10. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Remember when everything was supposed to calm down and be easier? Does attacking a government facility count as "easier"?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> RPM as we know it took place in a different universe. So I wanted to fit it into the normal universe. This was my attempt to start that.

“You’re not a teacher, R.J.,” Kira informed him. R.J. was standing in front of her and didn’t look the least bit perturbed by her statement.

“Fran and Dom came back to help with the pizzeria so I can help Tyson learn to control his inner spirit,” R.J. told her. “He sets off the vibrations of his group.”

Kira finally threw her hands in the hair. “You want to stay and help, I’m not going to stop you,” she said. “He goes to class still, R.J. And he needs to.”

“I’m not going to interrupt his training,” R.J. assured her before heading out the door. “We’ll just work on channeling his anger toward determination.”

Kira just nodded. She wasn’t really sure if she understood him, but she could pretend like she did. She leaned back and relaxed. Accepting R.J. as Tyson’s mentor put Jungle Fury in charge of two of the kids since Jarrod and Camille had both insisted that they needed to help Yuki. She had the feeling they knew what was going on and she was happy to let them figure it out. As long as the kids were getting the help they needed, she didn’t need to pry. Tyzonn had surprised her a bit when he told her that he was taking Mat under his wing. Still, she was just happy for the help.

She moved to write it in Tyson’s file when her phone rang. She looked surprised, but quickly answered it. “Kira…”

“Kira, it’s Cam.” She snapped to attention at his hurried tone. Cam almost always had an either snarky annoyed tone or a business tone to him. “I was running some files and we have a problem.”

“How bad?” She asked. There was a pause and she guessed he was shoving back the sarcastic response.

“I think you might have some new students,” he answered instead. “There’s a government project labeled ‘Alphabet Soup’.”

“That doesn’t sound too bad,” she admitted. There was another pause.

“They’re experimenting with children,” he said. 

Kira couldn’t speak for a moment from being so angry. “Cam,” she managed to get out.

“Put me on hold,” he instructed. “Breathe after.”

She did as he instructed, placing the call on hold and letting out a pterascream of rage. She knew that it was going to get the attention of the others, but right now she didn’t care about that. She took a few breaths and took the phone off hold.

“I should talk with you in person,” she said finally.

“I’ll be waiting,” Cam agreed and she hung up. She wasn’t surprised to see Tori in the doorway, ready to fight and looking a little confused. Kira might have thought to help calm her, but her mind was focused on other things.

"I need to talk to Cam," she said, heading out the door and off toward the edge of the school. Tori looked over at her as she followed.

"Alone?" She asked. Kira turned and looked at her seriously.

"I promise. When we figure out what’s going on, we’ll explain everything. Start lockdown procedures." she answered. Tori looked ready to argue, but just gave a sharp nod that let Kira know that she was going to have work at an apology later with the ninja. “Ronny! I need a lift!” 

Ronny hadn’t questioned her, though it was more because of Tori’s darkened look and the fact that she’d heard the scream. She vaguely heard Tori talking to Will as he quickly nodded and started to pull things together. Conner was on his heels and Madison was trying to talk to Tori. She couldn’t have left it in better hands. Cam was waiting for her at the entrance, looking just as serious as her. Ronny gave a nod that she’d wait as Kira climbed down.

"Kira," he said with a nod.

“Cam,” she answered. He motioned with his head for her to follow him, leading her to the academy. She felt a bit surprised by that, but right now he didn’t seem to care about protocol. Then again, she hadn’t been near the Wind Academy since she stole Tori. She followed him as they walked by the ninjas. Shane glanced up in surprise as Cam shook his head no and let it go as he went back to teaching. She didn’t see the water or earth students at that moment. She had the feeling that Shane would be swarming Cam for answers later.

He showed her his computer and the problem. "I'm not sure how many children there are, but I do know that some of them are dead now."

"Why?" Kira asked, looking horrified.

"They tried to run," Cam answered. “This isn’t a group that accepts no for an answer."

"We need to get in there," she told him and he nodded.

"Rose, Ethan, and I think we have a way," he assured her. 

Kira looked thoughtful. "Ethan doesn’t have an active power. He shouldn’t come with.”

“Rose is in Egypt,” Cam said. “They’ll help from there.”

“I don’t think this is going to be a sneaky trip either,” Kira brought up. Cam nodded. 

“I don’t think Rangers can be sneaky,” he said. Kira snorted.

“Either they’re super sneaky or not at all,” she said. “You should lead. You know the blueprints. I’ll keep them under control.”

Cam did not look impressed. “Between super speed, several red Rangers, your former mentor, his friends, and every other Ranger, they’ll be out of control before you can say anything.”

Kira shrugged. “Leave my mentor to me. We’ll try to keep this between our schools.”

“I’ll call Hunter,” Cam said. She nodded.

“I’ll call Theo. That way if there’s Thunder or Pai Zhuq students, we can send them there,” she agreed. “I’ll go get the others ready.”

“Toys R Us has a sale on kiddie leashes,” he suggested. She snorted a bit before getting herself under control.

“And listen to complaints that they didn’t have a T-Rex one? I’ll deal with the stampede,” she joked. He gave her a nod before turning back to his computer. He paused.

“Can you find your way back?” He asked. She nodded.

“Just get things ready,” she answered, making her way out and heading out of the school. She wasn’t surprised when Shane looked at her. She made a motion with her head toward Cam which he gave a nod to. She had a school filled with Rangers. Cam could handle one.

***

“I want to come with!” Charlie snapped. Kira gave her a stern look.

“You just started classes. Besides, I need you to calm Doctor O down,” Kira said, packing her bags for her. “Blue isn’t making as big of a fuss.”

“Blue’s a tactician. I can fight!” She argued. Kira looked at her.

“We’re not going to have this argument,” she said firmly. “You’re not going.”

“You’re not sending Conner away! And he doesn’t have any powers,” she said.

“Conner has been a Ranger as long as I have,” she answered, ignoring the fact that she had tried to talk her friend into staying with Charlie. She’d given up pretty quickly, but she’d tried.

“Kira,” Charlie groaned and Kira sighed.

“You’re still learning and I need you to keep Doctor O from creating a bigger problem.”

“You’re taking a school full of Rangers to attack a government facility. How much more trouble could he cause?” Charlie asked in amusement.

“You’d be surprised,” she said dryly. It was still Conner’s fault that she was headmistress, but it was also partially Tommy’s. And she loved her mentor, but he’d also been partially responsible for the reason that they’d needed to be Rangers in the first place. “If he thinks he has to protect you, he’ll stay out of trouble.”

“So just stay there and be good?” She asked, folding her arms. Kira paused and turned to her, gently taking her arms.

“I’m only going to give you permission to do this once and it’s an order as your headmistress,” she said. “Do anything and everything to keep him there.”

“Anything?” She asked with a grin. Kira nodded.

“Anything,” she answered. “Except for injuring him.”

“Goes without saying,” Charlie assured her and there was a sense of pride in Kira’s heart. “So give him hell?”

Kira grinned. “You bet.”

***

Blue had been quieter about getting moved, though Madison could tell he wasn’t happy. Unlike Charlie, he didn’t want to fight but they couldn’t leave him at the school either. “Briarwood is a wonderful place,” Madison said. “Everyone has blended together and no one will even comment that you’re a little different.”

“I’m a lot different,” Blue said quietly. Still, he was getting things together. Xander glanced over.

“V’s looking forward to meeting you,” he said. “And Udonna said you can stay with her if you like.”

“Toby said the same,” Chip agreed.

“You’ll be fine,” Madison assured him. “And we’ll be back before you know it.”

Blue still looked at the ground, trying as usual to avoid mirrors. Xander caught him doing it. “Hey,” he said. “Head up.”

Blue did so, knowing Xander wouldn’t let it down if he didn’t. Xander gave him a firm look. “Be proud of who you are,” he instructed. “We are.”

Blue gave a bit of a nod. He just hoped that Briarwood felt the same. They led him out and he watched as Xander said the spell and motioned to one of the trees. Madison kissed his cheek, which he still wasn’t used to but it made her happy so she let him do it, and Chip grinned at him which he did his best to return. “Just go through the tree,” Xander instructed. They rattled off other instructions to have fun, tell everyone hi, and to stay out of trouble. Yet, as Blue walked through, he could only hope that they were right and Briarwood accepted him.

***

Kira gathered her staff and met up with Cam outside the school before climbing into the “bus” and taking off. They headed toward Alphabet Soup's facility and stepped out. Cam had informed them of every entrance and exit that they needed to know about and Ethan and Rose were messing with the systems.

Kira looked at the rest of her people. "Spread out," she instructed. "Head out and do what you can. Cam and I will head inside and see what we can find. And try to be…”

They were gone before she could finish telling them to be quiet and she was certain they were headed out to do some serious damage as a distraction. It only took ten seconds before the sound of something breaking reached Cam and Kira. Kira looked at him. "Just so I know," she said. "Does this make us domestic terrorists?"

"According to them? Yes. According to me, we're freedom fighters," he answered. She smiled a bit at that as she followed. They turned the corner and saw a few of the guards. Both of them took a fighting stance. Kira locked down the temptation to screech at them. She didn't want to bring more running before they found what they had come for. Still, even without morphing, the two took them down in pretty short order. They turned around and headed toward several of the doors. They were labeled with random titles and most of them were empty. Kira only hoped that most of them had been empty to begin with. She moved toward one of the doors and saw a pair of twins completely asleep or sedated. She couldn't tell which. She carefully stepped in and looked for traps. Not seeing any, she reached for her morpher. "Ethan?"

"What do you need, Kira?" Her teammate asked.

"There's a pair of twins her that are a little too big for me to civilian carry," she said. They'd all agreed not to morph so that Power Rangers on the whole wouldn’t become enemies of the state.

"No problem," he assured her. "I'm sending Jarrod your way."

"Thanks," she said, staying with them and watching the door. Cam wasn't behind her anymore and she felt a little confused, but better when Jarrod rushed in followed by Casey. She motioned to the twins on the ground. Jarrod nodded and lifted the boy while Casey grabbed the girl. A shot ran out, nearly hitting Kira at the door, but the man went down a second later as Camille came out of the shadows. She looked at Kira with a nod and Kira gave her the same nod back. While neither had used it as much, Trent and Tommy had fortunately broken her of jumping every time they used their power a long time ago.

She hurried out of the room once she was sure the twins would be safe and made it into another room where Cam was. The man was kneeling down next to a young girl and softly talking to her. Kira stopped where she was and kept an eye on Cam's back for the moment. The girl's eyes lit up. "You understand it!" She said to Cam.

"It's all a matter of application of equations," he answered. "You've varied them in a different way, but the end result would certainly be similar to what was used in other uniforms."

"What about yours?" She asked, pointing at his amulet.

"Mine was for better movement. Kira's was for flight when she needed to," he answered without even looking up at her. The girl didn’t bother to look up either. "Some take better damage, some leave movement better, some are for extreme temperatures," he explained. The girl nodded and then looked over her equations.

"I think..." she said as if Cam were a teacher and Kira was impressed by how calm the man was being with the girl. "That it would protect more."

"Possibly," Cam said. "Of course, you'd have to test it and make sure of things before we knew for certain."

The girl looked self-conscious. "I don't think it's ready yet," she admitted. Cam shook his head.

"Not yet."

"So, can we wait on experimenting?" She asked hopefully. Kira's anger rose a bit but Cam managed to stay calm.

"We can wait until we think it’s ready," he assured her. 

“We need to go,” Kira said from the doorway. The girl’s eyes widened.

“I can’t,” she said quietly. Cam looked at her and she looked shy. “They said the sun hurts me.”

Cam looked at her and nodded. “Then we’ll keep you out of the sun,” he answered. “Kira, can you find Tori for me?”

“Already here, Cam,” Tori said.

Cam told the girl some sort of babble that Kira didn’t understand at all and a glance at Tori told her that she felt the same. Whatever was said, it was enough that the girl walked over to Tori and stood ready. Cam looked at Tori. “I told her you’d get her to the ‘bus’.”

The fact that he didn’t use airquotes for the word didn’t stop Kira from giving him a look for the implication. Tori, on the other hand, picked the girl up. “What are you two going to do?”

“Make sure this place never existed,” Kira said as Cam began work into the computer system. Tori was gone before everything went to hell. Whatever these monsters were, they were prepared. They just weren’t prepared for Rangers. Kira kept them from shooting Cam, though she was going to need a lozenge in the morning while Cam systematically destroyed all the information the group had from the inside out. When he gave her a nod, the two moved from defensive to offensive and fought their way out. Kira jumped on the bus as Cam came up behind her. “Conner?”

“Already did a head count!” He called back. “We’ve got everyone.”

“Madison?” She asked.

“Conner broke his arm and Will dislocated his shoulder, but otherwise everyone’s fine,” she said.

“It’s not broken!” Conner argued.

“It’s broken,” Madison fought back.

“Conner, if Maddie says it’s broken then it’s broken,” Kira snapped. “Ronny? Floor it.”

“You got it, Boss,” she said.

“And enough with the mafia references!”

“Yes, Boss,” the rest of the staff said sarcastically. She sighed.

“Cam? Do you still have the links for those kiddie leashes?” She asked.

“I sent it to your email before we left,” he answered, taking the girl from Tori calmly before talking with her. Kira grinned.

“You’re the best,” she said, ignoring the remarks from the rest of the group.

*** 

“So, Cam is taking… what’s her name?” Tommy asked as he personally dropped off Charlie. Charlie was just looking completely amused by the whole thing since it was Kira and Conner who were being checked up on this time. Kira gave her charge a slight look as Conner carefully gave Charlie a quick hug which she returned. Ethan and Trent tackled him in a hug soon after as Kira and Tommy promptly ignored them.

“She was only listed as the letter k, so we’re calling her Kay to make it easy on her,” Kira said. “And yes, Cam is taking her. They already bonded.”

“What about the other two?” Tommy asked. Kira motioned for him to follow her as Charlie shrugged and kept after them and the trio behind her tried to pick themselves up and follow. In Jarrod’s classroom, they found Jarrod completely asleep with both of the twins curled up asleep with him. Camille was wide awake and Kira had watched her tense when they walked through the door before calming down. Kira held up one finger to her teammates and stepped closer to the twins. Jarrod’s eye shot open and they heard the Lion’s roar before he contained it and calmed down. He glanced to Camille, saw she was awake, and went back to sleep.

Kira led them back out of the room. “They’re staying here,” she said dryly. Tommy snickered and Charlie was holding back her laugh in case Jarrod could hear them. They headed back toward the office when Blue stumbled out of a tree. Charlie was there faster than the others to stabilize them.

“Does that get easier?” He asked Kira.

“I don’t know,” she said honestly. “I rode a raptor and had a bike.”

“Bikes,” Blue said with a nod. “I know bikes. Nick has a bike.”

From the look on Blue’s face, she had the feeling Nick had talked him into riding the bike with him. “How was your trip to Briarwood?”

“Nice,” he said. “Welcoming. What is Disneyland and why did Leelee think I needed to go?”

“I’ll get him back to his room,” Charlie said quickly. Kira nodded. “Did you see a troll?”

“I saw a dragon.”

“Lucky.”

Kira shook her head as they headed off and looked at her mentor. “So, how long until the feds show up?”

“They won’t,” Tommy assured her. She noticed that Conner, Ethan and Trent had taken off. Most likely to pester Ronny about letting they play with the bus. “Carter took care of it.”

“Can they do that?” She asked.

“The federal government doesn’t want to admit it existed,” Tommy answered. “They really don’t want to admit to a public Ranger that it existed.”

“So we’re in the clear?” Kira asked. “That seems too easy.”

“You have three children that Alphabet Soup had for some reason,” he said. Kira just groaned. “Also, what did you tell Charlie that she thought it was necessary to hide the battery from my jeep?”

“Huh. I thought she’d do more.”

“And jam the lock to the lair?”

“That sounds like her.”

“And call Kim and Kat while my back was turned.”

“I didn’t know she knew the numbers.”

“She didn’t. She casually asked Ethan where they’d be and he gave them to her.”

“Conner will be proud.”

“Kira!”

“I have to go run a school, Doctor O. It was great seeing you!”


	11. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bonding. Just... bonding.

Kira heard the footsteps coming toward her as she looked out from the rooftop. She didn’t bother to look over. She could tell the difference between the two that usually joined her and it wasn’t Charlie. Will slid down next to her and stretched out, leaning back and looking toward the sky. They were silent for a moment, both of them completely relaxed as they did so. Conner was her best friend. Tori was the best second in command she could have asked for. Will, however, was a quiet confidante. It wasn’t as if they talked that often, but he always had an ear out anyway so she tended to accept the physical company as well. He’d told her it was a practiced trait from his job. This time, however, wasn’t going to be as quiet. “How many more are we missing, Will?” She asked.

“Many of what?” He asked.

“Places like Alphabet Soup,” she answered. He was quiet for a minute before he spoke up.

“I saw a lot of places when I was working,” he said. “Got a lot of secrets out of them, sold them back to the other group, and never gave it a second thought. Some were terrible; others weren’t. They all seemed the same on the outside. It’s the same here. Everything seems fine now, but they could be hiding things.”

Kira sighed. “Thanks. Conner keeps telling me not to worry, Tori keeps telling me we’ll find them, and I know that it’s not that easy.”

“Never is,” he agreed. It was quiet between them, but a glance toward Will told her that he was fighting himself over something. Before she could ask if he was alright, he spoke up again. “Ronny told me that you stole your gem.”

“Conner told her?” She asked and Will nodded. “Conner…”

Will snickered. “He said we shouldn’t have secrets like that,” he said. Kira looked at him with a look that said she didn’t feel he was right about that. He didn’t mind. “So, since I know that, how about a secret for a secret.”

She looked intrigued. “I thought you didn’t give away secrets,” she said in amusement.

“I don’t,” he said. “Like I said, a secret for a secret. I told you that I stole secrets, broke into places, tested securities.”

“A spy for hire,” she said. He nodded.

“What I didn’t tell you was that after you showed up, I finally realized what being a Ranger meant. And I couldn’t figure out why it chose me,” he said. “Before that, I thought I was just good at my job. That’s not what being a Power Ranger is. So, how did it know to pick me? And then I figured out that maybe I was a better person than I thought I was. Mostly once Mack went suicidal and we had to get him to stop being stupid. I was scared to lose someone. Point is, we see monsters and destruction and corruption all the time because we’re Power Rangers.”

He pointed down at the school and then at her. “But maybe it’s better than all that. Maybe most people and things are good. We might not find out about the bad ones right now, Kira, but we will. And we’ll save the day.”

“Thanks,” she said. He grinned.

“Pleasure doing business with you, Kira,” he said as he stood up. She followed suit. “I think Ronny set up a pool table in the rec room.”

“You’re on,” she agreed, following him out.

***

“You needed to get out of the school,” Kira said as Charlie half pouted behind her. Kira would have ignored it, but she was trying to make this a more enjoyable outing. Charlie just wasn’t helping. After everything that had happened and after Kira had been forced to leave her with Tommy, Charlie had been moody. Kira couldn’t blame her. She knew that Charlie felt that she’d abandoned her.

“You didn’t even tell me where we were going,” Charlie said, trying to keep the pout from slipping into her voice and failing. “You just told Tori she was in charge, grabbed me, winked to Conner and we took off.”

“You weren’t supposed to see the wink,” Kira informed her.

“Be more subtle,” Charlie argued back. Kira tried to hold back her grin, but failed. “Can’t you at least give me a clue?”

“You said you wanted to be more involved,” she said. “So I’m getting you more involved. A lot happened recently.”

“Yeah…” Charlie said warily. She paused as she finally saw why they were there. Kira smiled at Charlie’s surprise.

“Charlie, meet Taylor Earhardt and Carter Greyson,” she said, motioning to them. Both of them held out a hand and she quickly shook their hands. “Charlie felt a little left out of the rescue.”

“So did we,” Taylor said, folding her arms. Kira sighed.

“You were the last person who should have been there,” she said. “You’re still in the military. They would have court martialed you.”

“Most likely,” Carter said. “They would have given her an honorable discharge with the understanding that she never said anything about it again. Sometimes, the best way to help is by staying behind.”

Kira gave him a thankful look which he just nodded to. Charlie looked at her. “So why are we here?”

“I need to talk about what happened,” Kira said. Charlie looked a little crestfallen. “Taylor agreed to take you up which I catch Carter up.”

“Up flying?” Charlie asked, looking at Taylor.

“Where else?” Taylor asked. She started toward her plane. “You coming?”

Charlie nearly knocked Kira over as she hurried to follow Taylor to the plane while Kira looked at Carter. “I’m working on trying to get her to remember manner,” she apologized.

“She kind of reminds me of Joel’s daughter,” he said in amusement. Kira snorted.

“There’s something for her to aspire to,” Kira said dryly. “It’s going fine on our end. Kay is getting used to being able to go outside and the twins have to be watched constantly, but no major problems.”

“None for us either,” he assured her. “Just watch your back, Kira. Between this and the alien protests, they’re going to start getting up in arms.”

Kira looked startled by that. “We weren’t behind the protests,” she brought up. Carter shrugged.

“They don’t know there’s a school, but someone is going to come looking for the three of them eventually,” Carter told her. “Just be careful.”

“Do you think we’ll have any support?” She asked and he laughed.

“Power Rangers are the guardians of the people. The heroes that stop enemies the rest of us can’t,” he said. “That angers some people, but most people support us. This isn’t something you’re going to do alone.”

She smiled at him. “Rainbow Academy always appreciates the help of former Rangers,” she said. He gave her a nod and the stood to the side of her, letting her know that they were former Rangers again instead of the head of a Ranger School and the face of Public Power Rangers. She relaxed. He glanced upward and then back at her.

“I don’t think Taylor is being careful,” he mentioned.

“Charlie will like that,” Kira said. Carter looked at her.

“You’re not worried?” He asked. She gave a small smile.

“Charlie’s been through worse. And her friends and her are showing team dynamics. I have more to worry about,” she answered. He looked at her curiously. “She’s likely to be the leader.”

Carter nodded and set his hand on her shoulder. “She’ll do great.”

“I know,” Kira answered, appreciating the gesture. As Taylor landed and Charlie came running back to her, glowing with pride that Taylor hadn’t held back, she finished the thought. _I just hope I don’t let her down._

***

Blue glanced up from his work as Xander sighed, holding his phone to his ear. “V, you can’t set the dragon on them,” he sighed. “I don’t care what Kira said. When she told me to leave it to you, she didn’t think that you’d set Fire Heart off on people. Peaceful protest, V!”

Blue just watched as Xander looked more and more agitated. “Is Nik there? Is Toby there? No I don’t… Hi Matoombo. Uh huh. Uh huh. Hey, can you put someone else on? Thanks, mate. Leelee! You can’t let V set Fire Heart on them.”

“Xander?” The former Green Ranger whipped his head around to look at Blue. “What if they didn’t set Fire Heart on them, but used him as an example?”

“Leelee, hold on for a sec,” he said before sitting down. “What do you mean, Blue?”

“He’s one of us, right?” He said. “A member of Briarwood?”

“A member of the family,” Xander said with a nod.

“So instead terrorizing people, he could show that he’s a person,” he said. “That he deserves rights too. A symbol.”

Xander’s eyes lit up. “Leelee, calm V down. Blue has a plan,” he said. Blue looked a little uncomfortable by that and wasn’t sure what to say when Xander patted his shoulder before getting back to convincing the others. Instead, he just sat there patiently, helping to throw out ideas when Xander was stuck.

“What’s he talking about?” Chip asked as he headed inside and sat down next to Blue. He handed Blue some fish sticks before sitting down. Blue nibbled on them, thinking about what to say before he said it.

“Vida wanted to set Fire Heart on the muggles,” Blue answered. “Which would destroy the masquerade.”

“Oh,” Chip answered and grinned. “I knew you’d like Harry Potter.”

Blue gave a genuine smile in his direction. “The role-playing books were interesting too.”

“Never play a vampire. Trust me. Nikki will find out,” Chip warned. “How’s the homework?”

“I think I just solved it,” he answered, showing his Tactic’s homework read to find a solution to a family problem. Chip grinned at him.

“Xander and I wanted you in our classes,” he admitted. “But Jarrod and Camille both have told us how well you’re doing so we’re proud of you.”

“Nothing I could teach him,” Xander said as he hung up. “He already has it down. Well, he has what he needs down.”

The words poured over Blue and while they didn’t fill in the years of pain that his captivity had brought, he had to admit that right now, it felt nice. He could live with that. 

***

Tyson looked at R.J. as he stood there. Casey was watching, his face in amusement over the whole thing. It wasn’t often that one of the other Jungle Fury members broke in on one of the sessions he’d been forced into with R.J., but Casey had insisted for this one. “You’re blindfolded.”

“I am,” R.J. agreed. Casey coughed to hide his snicker. Tyson just glared at him before turning back to R.J.

“I’m not going to hit you when you’re blindfolded,” he grumbled. R.J. didn’t even move.

“If you underestimate your opponent,” he warned. “You’ll end up defeated.”

“You don’t hit blind people,” Tyson said stubbornly. Casey looked over.

“Trust me, that’s not going to be a problem,” he said before just watching. Tyson paused and then looked at R.J. He shrugged and then he charged. As he found himself on the ground, staring at the ceiling, he wondered where everything had gone wrong in the situation.

“And that is why you don’t underestimate,” R.J. said, helping Tyson back to his feet. Tyson noticed that the blindfold was still there. He sighed and took a seat next to Casey.

“Why do I have to do this again?” He asked.

“Your aura is off,” R.J. answered. “You need to channel the anger instead of letting it control you.”

“You took diplomacy,” Casey agreed. “Xander’s rule is to talk first.”

“I try to talk first,” Tyson said and then was quiet for a minute. R.J. didn’t push and motioned for Casey to follow his example. The younger Jungle Fury Ranger just nodded. “And then I remember what happened the last time I did.”

“What happened?” Casey asked carefully after a minute. Tyson wasn’t even looking up at him.

“My brother and I were walking home and we ran into these guys. They were saying something about us being in their territory, but we’d walked that way since I was seven. Which I tried to tell them. They didn’t listen,” he answered. “I didn’t see the gun. Greg did.”

“You can’t be afraid of tomorrow because of what happened yesterday,” R.J. told him. Tyson looked at him and R.J.’s sympathy looked back at him. 

“Don’t you get it? I am still afraid,” he answered. “That’s why I took diplomacy! To get past it!”

“And that is why I asked Kira to train you,” R.J. answered.

“You really think you can help?” Even Tyson was surprised that his tone was hopeful instead of sarcastic. R.J. nodded. “Can we try again?”

R.J. smiled and put the blindfold back on as Tyson realized that R.J. was trying to help him to push his own boundaries. Tyson took to his feet. “Why the blindfold?” He finally asked.

“You need to see without your eyes,” he answered. Tyson nodded at that.

“Can you teach me?” He asked. R.J. smiled.

“I know someone who can,” he offered. “But first, you need control.”

“Got it,” Tyson answered. Even if he landed on the ground a few more times, he has a slight faith that R.J. would be able to help him. He just needed to learn patience. And he needed to stop by Madison’s office on his way home.

***

Mat enjoyed spending time with Tyzonn if he wanted to be honest about it. The Mercurian was willing to help him with whatever he needed and was pretty laid back. He also seemed to understand what it was like to never be able to go home which was something Mat understood all too well. “So, family number 6 had the baby?”

“Yeah,” Mat answered, shrugging it off. “They didn’t want me to go near it.”

“Why not?” Tyzonn asked. “That seems like it would be perfect if you could help out.”

“They didn’t trust me with her,” Mat answered. “Did any of your first team have kids?”

“Jeya did,” Tyzonn answered. “Vela and I were going to but…”

He paused at that. Mat looked over. “What’s Aquitar like?”

Tyzonn grasped at the change in subject. “It’s nice,” he answered. “All that water makes me a bit nervous, but everyone is pretty polite. They really like Earth’s Rangers.”

“They came here for a while, right?” Mat asked and Tyzonn nodded. There was a pleasant silence for a minute before Tyzonn spoke again.

“How’s Magic Basics going?” He asked.

“Slowly,” Mat said with a small smile. “It’s like he’s afraid we’ll blow up the school.”

“We’re afraid he will,” Tyzonn said, not bothering to be secretive of that. Mat gave a small smile. “I’m glad you’re doing well.”

“I’ll let you know if I have trouble,” he assured him. Tyzonn looked pleased at that. The rest of the day was filled with mostly silence as Tyzonn worked on his classwork and Mat worked on his homework. Mat had heard about mentor programs, but had never wanted to join any of them. He didn’t feel comfortable with people. Yet, somehow, Tyzonn lowered his defenses a bit and his four friends felt right. He wasn’t sure if it was just hope talking, but he couldn’t help but feel that maybe this could go right.

***

Yuki hadn’t been sure what to expect from Camille and Jarrod, but it wasn’t this. Their area was Spartan with older things in it, but not much. She’d been told that Camille didn’t have much to begin with and that Jarrod had given all of his away. They were rebuilding, but it was going slowly. Yuki hadn’t minded and was quiet as well as nonintrusive as possible. She knew that they could guess what had happened to her and that a talk was eventually going to happen. Most likely soon from the looks they shared. From what she knew of them, she figured they saw it as some sort of repentance to help her and she wasn’t much better in what she needed from them. It worked wonderfully. The twins, however, were far less quiet. As much fun as it had been to watch Jarrod set his lion on them to get them to lie down, she knew that they needed help in learning to make better choices.

“Gem,” she said. “Give that to me.”

“But we,” he started.

“Were going to,” Gemma continued.

“Throw it in the fountain,” he said.

“Explosion of bubbles!” They shouted. Yuki nodded patiently.

“There would be,” she agreed. “But you can’t just do that.”

“Why?” They asked. She thought about it. ‘Because it’s against the rules’ and ‘Because it’s not your fountain’ wouldn’t have much meaning for them right now. 

“Because someone could attack the school,” she said. “And Madison and Tori need the fountain to fight back.”

The two of them looked at each other and then nodded solemnly to her. “They can’t,” Gem started.

“Do that with bubbles?” Gemma continued. Yuki looked just as solemn back.

“No,” she answered. “So no bubble explosions in the fountain.”

The twins looked at each other and their eyes widened with excitement. “What if,” Gemma started.

“We took it and…” Gem continued as Gemma joined him to finish. “Threw it in Chip’s water?”

Chip had a trough of water in case things went wrong in his class. She thought about and nodded as she realized that classes were over, they wouldn’t need it to stop the school from burning down, and Chip would probably find it funny. “Go for it.”

They were out the door and past Camille before she could get a word in. The chameleon looked over at her. “What am I going to need to talk to Kira about the cubs doing?” She asked. 

“Bubble explosion in Chip’s trough,” she said. “They invented something while you were busy.”

Camille just blinked. “And you let them?”

“Better than the fountain,” she answered. There was some laughter at the door as Jarrod headed in. 

“Pragmatic,” he said. He sat down and looked at her. “We need to talk.”

“I know,” she said. She hadn’t been looking forward to this, but she knew it needed to happen before it blew up.

“You haven’t told anyone else,” he said.

“I haven’t told anyone except for Mat, Charlie, Tyson, and Blue,” she answered.

“You know who I was,” he said. “Why did you agree?”

“For the same reason you asked me to come,” she answered. “To get past the past.”

The fact that her voice didn’t shake that hard was something she was proud of. She had never been face to face with Dai Shi nor with Camille, but it was something that was in the back of her mind. She kept talking when he didn’t. “You two changed. I saw it when I got here. You’re better people. You started over. I need to start over.”

“How bad was it?” Camille asked and Yuki could tell she was trying to be more sympathetic than guiltstricken. She’d feel guilty later, but for Yuki, she tried to hide it. She appreciated it.

“Six months in the hospital,” she admitted. “They didn’t think I’d walk again. I proved them wrong. It bankrupted Mom and Dad. They’ve been trying to make up for it, but Ocean Bluff didn’t have a insurance program with monsters. We lost the apartment and the medical bills. Mom had gone to the store. It was on the other side of the street.”

Jarrod nodded. “And now?”

“It’s better,” she answered. “Not great, but better. I agreed to come, but everyone is so excited to be here and all the teachers are Rangers. And I can’t be.”

Camille headed over to her and sat her down. “Why not?”

“Because I keep wondering why they let me fall,” she answered. “I hate Dai Shi for attacking and I hate who you were for helping, but both of you changed and understood what you did was terrible. I never got visitors and no one checked in and my parents couldn’t pay for it. And I’ve never seen a Power Ranger act like that was wrong.”

Jarrod walked over and carefully took her in his arms as she cried. “I promise,” he assured her. “That they felt horrible for every person they couldn’t save.”

She looked up at him, letting the tears flow down. “I know,” she said. “But I can’t…”

Camille joined the other side. “Take your time,” she answered. Yuki nodded. After a few minutes, she felt a couple more clutches and made certain to let Gem and Gemma know she knew they were there. It would be slow, but maybe she wouldn’t become what she spent so long resenting. That was part of why she’d come after all. To get past the past.

***

“Where’s your attachments?” Charlie teased from the roof as Yuki headed over. The other girl stuck her tongue out at the first before sitting down under the building. Charlie made her way down to greet her.

“Gem and Gemma just like physical contact,” she said. “And they need supervision. And they need you to stop giving them ideas.”

“Yeah, like that’ll happen,” Tyson snorted as he joined them, sitting down next to Yuki and handing her a package of M&Ms. He looked over at Charlie. “Catch.”

She caught the skittles and sat down with them. “I could stop,” Charlie said. “But then I wouldn’t get to see what they do.”

“I think that’s the point he was making,” Mat said, snatching a snickers as he joined them. “You’re a bad influence on Yuki’s sibs.”

“They’re not my siblings,” Yuki argued.

“I have a dragon as a cousin,” Blue said as he sat down with them. “They’re siblings.”

Charlie looked over. “Kira says there are different families. There’s your birth family, your Ranger family, and whatever families you make along the way,” she said. They all looked at her. “I’ve been living with Kira for five years.”

“Whoa,” Tyson said. “I knew you’d been living with her for a while, but not that long.”

She nodded and Mat looked over. “And she never tried to leave you?”

Charlie snorted. “She freaks out when she doesn’t know where I am. Conner’s not much better.”

“Huh,” Mat said quietly. “Do you think they’re all like that?”

Charlie nodded. “Yep. And I know something else too.” They all looked at her. “They’re trying to keep it from us, but they can see it. I heard Kira talking to Conner. They think we’re a team.”

Blue just nodded. “It makes sense,” he said. “We’ve bonded with each other faster than anyone else.”

“And we can work with each other’s strengths,” Tyson agreed. He glanced over at Yuki. “You okay with that?”

“I will be,” she answered. “Hopefully before we get our morphers.”

They all nodded to each other as Blue took the clams Tyson brought him and snacked on them as much as they snacked on their own food. The future, while weird, was definitely bright.


	12. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Trouble begins to brew.

Kira made it across the school a lot fast than she thought she’d be able to. It helped that her look of determination caused the students and other teachers to run. She looked around as she met Conner’s eyes. She rushed toward him. “What do we know?” She demanded. She looked more frazzled than usual and the only thing that was keeping her going was knowing that she wasn’t the only one having to deal with things. He looked back at her.

“According to Dr. O,” he started and that made her heard sink further. Tommy only would call if it was bad. “SPD called him.”

“SPD?” She asked. “You mean that new organization? The one that lost a Ranger?”

“Not the way to put it, Kira,” he teased. He was right and she knew it, but that didn’t make it any less true. The loss of a Ranger had hit all of them, even if it was only through word of mouth and most hadn’t known him. She’s heard how the man’s young son had been delivered the helmet of his dead father and her team had promised each other to never let that that happen if one of them had kids and died. She’d heard that Wes had been horrified by the loss of the Red Ranger and that he’d made certain to keep an eye on his son. Fortunately, the mother had also been part of the program, the reason that her son happened to have powers, so she didn’t blame them for it. Tommy had talked to her about enrolling the kid into the school with Wes backing him up. It hadn’t happened yet, but she’d heard that the Carsons and the Drews had taken interest as well. Apparently, Kira’s mentor decided without telling her that he didn’t think that the quintet and the twins were enough trouble. If Cam hadn’t agreed to take in Kay, they’d be even worse off. “They know this threat.”

She paled a bit at that. “How bad, Conner?” She asked. “Is this Mirloc all over again?”

She left the question she really wanted to ask out: Were they going to lose another Ranger? Conner continued as if she hadn’t even inferred it. “Bad enough that if this gets out of control, Mystic Force is going to have some set backs to alien rights,” he answered. She guessed he wouldn’t accept them losing everyone and both of them knew that she was worried about him most of all due to being the one former Ranger at the school without powers. “They’re coming after the school so that there’s less of a threat.”

“What happens if we win this?” She asked. He looked thoughtful.

“It’ll buy us some time,” he said. 

She nodded. “Then we buy some time.”

“Kira, we don’t have enough time to get the kids out,” he said. “Even if we send them with Ronny, they’ll probably get attacked.”

“I thought we were hidden,” she mentioned.

“We are,” he answered. “They found us.”

“They know where we are exactly?” She asked, trying not to pale as she headed to evacuate the school.

“Apparently, some aliens can see through magic,” he answered. Before she could open her mouth, a first strike hit down. “Conner!” She called out and he looked at her. “What’s the name of the guy behind it?”

“Grumm,” he answered. She nodded. She could hear the screams and cries of the students as all of their beginner training shut down and they were just scared kids again. She couldn’t blame them. They hadn’t been expecting anything like this for all of the talk about it. Even the former Rangers thought they’d have more time. “Kira! Doctor O said he got the word out.”

“ETA?” She asked.

“I don’t know,” he answered. Kira moved toward the middle of the area as they started to land. The others had gotten the children away, more secluded so they wouldn’t get hurt in the upcoming fight. She found Tori paused as the ninja was staring out. Kira had had a few minutes of warning, but Tori hadn’t. She had the feeling that Dustin would be the same way. “Tori!” The former blue managed to shake herself together in time to look at Kira.

“Sorry,” she apologized. Kira gave her a small smile. “I was just thinking back to when we first got our powers and Lothor…”

“It’s okay,” she assured her. “We won’t let it happen again. Are you okay to do this?”

Tori nodded. “Let’s go.” 

Kira continued with Tori and Conner directly behind her. She noticed Will and Ronny join her. Madison came out the door and toward her. Xander stood ready at his class with Chip standing slightly to his side. Jarrod and Camille readied themselves. Tyzonn had slipped over to Xander with a slight nod to the Green Mystic Ranger. Conner broke away from her and she paused, seeing the disappointment he was trying to hide. He took her hand. “Take them down,” he whispered before ushering the children away from the windows. Her heart clenched a bit as her former teammate realized he was a possible hindrance. Right now, however, she had something else to do.

She brought herself to her full height and looked out at the invading force as they headed toward her. It was a small army. “I am Headmistress Kira Ford of Rainbow Academy! What do you think you’re doing?”

“Well, Headmistress Kira Ford of Rainbow Academy,” the alien in charge sneered. “I have orders to shut you down.”

“I thought the invasions ended with Mirloc,” she said. “Power Rangers tore through him and we’ll tear through you.”

“Really. I heard it was a Power Ranger who did that,” he said. “Not a bunch of washed up has-beens. And I heard he didn’t make it.”

“He did what he needed to,” she answered, ignoring the sick feeling in her stomach. “And if you’re going to push it, we’ll push back.”

“We?”

“My faculty. We take our students’ safety deathly seriously,” she informed him. “Now, are you going to leave or are we going to have to force you out?”

“You’re outnumbered.”

“You’re outclassed,” she answered. “Now, get out of my school.”

“In a few minutes, your ‘school’ will be nothing more than a memory,” he sneered. Kira shook her head and brought her wrist up to her mouth. She could feel the eyes of everyone on the battlefield, as well as the kids in class, on her. For the first time since she’d shown Charlie, Kira spoke the words.

“Dino Thunder, Power up!” She shouted, letting the Power wrap around her. In Kira’s place stood the Yellow Dino Thunder Ranger. She didn’t even have to give a nod. Tori was right behind her.

“Ninja Storm! Ranger Form!” Tori called out. She heard Dustin call it out with her even if he couldn’t transform. He was readying himself as a ninja instead. They could use the ground support.

“Magical Source! Mystic Force!” Xander started as Chip and Madison both joined in. She hadn’t known that all three still had their powers, but she was happy to see it. Chip stayed by Xander, but Madison stayed near Kira, standing behind her.

“Overdrive, Accelerate!” Will, Ronny, and Tyzonn called. Like Madison, Will and Ronny stayed behind Kira as Tyzonn moved to stand by Xander and Chip, taking Xander’s other side. Casey took his step forward.

“Jungle Beast, Fury Unleashed!” Casey called out. Camille and Jarrod joined in with him. While they were all in groups, they moved together to be behind Kira and her makeshift team. Kira stood ready.

“Once a Ranger!” She called out. The others responded.

“Always a Ranger!”

The fight began. Kira charged into it, flying through the minions and landing on top of a building nearby. The rest of the field went mad. Her staff might have been outnumbered, but they were better equipped and trained. She felt a surge of pride as they fought back in every way they could. So, when she heard other familiar voices, she felt even better about things.

“Magical Source! Mystic Force!” Came the first as Xander, Chip, and Madison were joined by Nick and Vida who had come to their friends’ aid. The cavalry had arrived. Vida let out a burst of wind and to everyone’s surprise, it doubled. Kira managed to turn to see Shane racing over to where Dustin was and helping his friend out as the rest of the Ninja Storm had arrived. At least, Kira was pretty certain about that considering how much lightening had touched down on the field.

“Overdrive! Accelerate!” She heard Mack, Rose, and Dax call out over near Tyzonn. She glanced over to see that her staff were right below her. Will was halfway up to her while Ronny sped toward Mack, Rose, and Dax. Madison and Tori were half-drowning the minions a little further back. She smiled to herself as Will finally made it to her and the two fought back to back.

“Jungle Beast, Fury Unleashed!” A cry called out and she could make out Lily, Theo, R.J., and Dom joining up with the rest of their team. She felt a little relief at that. She looked at Will and the two finished up the minions on the roof and dashed back down to the others. The groups were definitely pushing them back. It was all Kira could have hoped for.

***

Charlie stayed by Conner as she watched him look out at his fellow Rangers fighting a battle he couldn’t be in. “Conner?”

“Hmm?” He asked, looking out before pulling himself back in a counting the students again.

“We should help,” She firmly. He looked at her and sighed.

“We’ll get in the way,” he answered. She could hear the regret in his voice. She glanced at Blue who seemingly agreed with her not to push it. She didn’t need to anyway as the wall crashed open next to her and minions poured it. Most of the students backed up as Conner took his place in front of all of them. There was a slight smile on his face. “I’ve been having a really bad day.”

With that, he charged at them. Charlie waited half a second before she nodded to Blue, Mat, Tyson, and Yuki. The five of them followed him into battle. He barked for the students to stay back, but they ignored him. Conner looked ready to say something to her, but didn’t. She knew he realized what she had. They didn’t have a choice.

Blaster shots whipped past them into the minions and Conner and Charlie turned around to see a Blue Power Ranger coming toward them. Charlie glanced at Blue who had taken the classes more seriously. “Blue Turbo,” he whispered. She turned back. Blue Turbo kicked his way toward them and made his way to Conner’s side. “Conner McKnight?”

“Justin Stewart?” Conner asked. The Ranger nodded as they quickly clasped hands.

“Your mentor told me to get this to you,” he informed him, handing him a red stone. Conner immediately reached out for it with no sense of caution.

“It’s red,” he whispered. The Turbo Ranger, Justin, laughed.

“They charged it,” he said. “He was pretty sure you would need this too.”

He tossed Conner a morpher. Conner clenched his fist around the gem and let out the breath he’d been holding as he turned to the minions coming. He didn’t morph, but he moved with a speed Charlie’d seen from Tori and Ronny before and used it completely against them, sending them flying. He cheered a bit and grinned as he took the morpher. “Dino Thunder! Power Up!”

Charlie watched as a similar outfit to Kira’s rushed over Conner, leaving the Red Dino Thunder Power Ranger in his place. She had to admit. She was impressed. Conner looked back at Justin. “Any other presents you think I’ll need?”

Justin held up five fingers and counted down. The minute his last finger went down, Charlie could hear voices over the battle. “Dino Thunder, Power Up!” “White Ranger, Power Up!” Charlie would later swear Conner was crying even if she couldn’t see it, but his voice was steady when he called out to them. "Over here!" He called out as a blue and white Ranger rushed over. Conner turned to Charlie. "No matter what happens, keep them safe."

She nodded. "I will."

"I know you will," Conner said and gave her a small salute. He rushed out into the fray and Charlie was able to watch her foster mother's best friend actually fight. He charged into the middle of them, twirling his weapon and dove down, crashing into them. Blue and White joined in and she could only assume that Ethan and Trent had arrived. They worked together and pushed the villains back a bit before they were greeted by Ninja Storm who worked with them. Conner looked at his group and they gave him a nod as he left his old team to go help the members of his new one.

***

Kira wasn't doing badly for where she was at with Will at her side. Madison and Tori's working together was doing perfectly. They seemed to have a certain way of doing things that was working for their water elements. On their other side, Ronny was doing a good job of running circles around the others. That said, they were still getting forced back. So when several of them went flying, they all looked up.

Kira shouldn’t have been able to meet Conner's eyes because of the helmets, but she'd swear to her last breath that they had instinctively found a way as he joined them. He rushed toward her and she met him halfway as they worked together to take the others down. She was pleased that Will and Ronny switched to working together with no complaint. The six of them were easily forcing the creatures back and Kira's eyes landed on the general. She looked at it and frowned. Her team seemed to have the same thoughts.

They made their way toward it. The general actually had the gall to look surprised by everything going on, but Conner didn't care anymore. He charged toward it with everything that he had. Kira was right behind him and Kira felt the others with her. They headed toward the general and started to take him down. They were tossed every which way, but that didn't seem to stop them. After Conner’s initial rush, Kira was easily taking point and none of them were stopping her. She'd later have to ask Conner if this is what it meant to be a Red Ranger.

She heard other calls as older teams arrived, but she didn’t care. Right now, she had a job to do. “You shouldn’t have come!” She yelled out and they struck. Ronny and Will slammed down on as they passed him, first in line. A swirl of water hit him from Madison as Tori came through it to slash him. Conner moved right before her, hitting with his weapon and giving her the entrance to finish the job. She took it. The explosion behind her as she landed felt better than anything she’d felt before. She could see the ships rushing away before her eyes as they finished with the minions. And just like that, it was over.

Kira looked around as did the other Rangers before a massive power down happened. The first person she saw, still standing next to her, was Conner. There was an expression of delight that sprang from her as she rushed to hug him which he happily accepted. A clap on his shoulder and he grinned back to Will. Madison was in near tears as she congratulated him. Tori gave him a quick hug as well before just grinning. He looked at Ronny, the only one staying back and gave a cocky grin. She shared it. There was a slight nod and before Kira could stop them, the two were racing off.

“Good to see being a teacher hasn’t changed him,” she heard from behind her. She wasn’t sure if she wanted to hug or hit Ethan. She decided on hugging before hitting his arm. He laughed. She turned to Trent and pulled him into a hug as well.

“Thanks,” she said honestly. “For coming.”

“We’re just lucky Ethan fixed the gems with Hayley,” Trent said. “Or we wouldn’t have had powers when we came.”

“You know, Conner knew to stay out of the way,” she teased. Ethan grinned.

“And we would have joined him,” he answered. Before she could continue to joke, and as Conner and Ronny returned, she saw the kids coming out of the classrooms. She could see for the first time the likely groups that were forming. The way some of the students were trying to figure out the different technology the aliens had used, the way some of them were checking on others, even how some were just taking it in and learning. Conner had been right.

“We’re going to need additional classes,” she mentioned quietly as the kids were still adjusting.

“I was thinking maybe I could help with that.” She looked over to see Justin heading over to her and she took his hand in a shake. He motioned to the kids who were studying the technology. “You need a tech teacher.”

She looked relieved. “You’re hired.”

“You don’t want me to give you an application?” He asked with a slight smile. She snorted.

“Right now,” she admitted. “I’ll take a volunteer.”

“Welcome to the team,” Conner said. “Thanks for the gem.”

“Anytime,” Justin said warmly. The two clasped hands and Kira just smiled.

“Hey!” She turned around to see Charlie heading toward her. They looked at each other for a minute before Charlie pulled her into a hug. Kira felt surprised but shared it, letting Charlie lead. “You scared me.”

Kira just nodded. To her knowledge, other than Udonna and Leanbow, no Ranger had been a parent and even with Udonna and Leanbow, they had fought with their son. The only other was Red Ranger Tate who had lost his life fighting Mirloc. Most Rangers didn’t have non-Ranger child. She was facing something she couldn’t talk about with the older Rangers. Most likely, the other Rangers who were parents here hadn’t worried their kids with the information as she realized that a few that had shown up had kids. Kira had Charlie who went to the school and knew who her foster mother was. And she knew that Kira wasn’t retired. The only other Ranger who would understand was dead. “I’m sorry, Charlie.”

She glanced around and saw that Charlie’s friends were checking over their mentors. Blue was quietly talking with Chip as Xander cheerfully chatted with Nick and Vida. Mat had been politely invited in to the Operation Overdrive circle as Tyzonn introduced him to Mack, Rose, and Dax. Tyson was laughing as R.J. said something to Theo who rolled his eyes as he leaned against Casey for structural support while they both laughed. Nearby, Jarrod and Camille assured the twins everything was fine, no they didn’t need to blow anything up, where did they even get that, and thank the power for Yuki. Yuki was just smiling with a hand on each of the twin’s shoulders and a bit of blush. Kira relaxed a bit. Maybe she didn’t have anyone older she could talk to, but at least she wasn’t alone.

“You kicked ass,” Charlie told her.

“Language,” Kira scolded. Charlie ignored her as she looked toward Conner.

“That was amazing,” she admitted. He grinned at her.

“It felt good,” he admitted. He turned to Ethan and Trent. “What took you guys so long?”

“You’re welcome,” Ethan said, but easily gave him a hug.

“Not that I’m complaining, but why Justin?” Conner asked. Ethan grinned.

“We were further out and your gem was with Hayley,” Ethan answered. “She gave it to Justin and Tommy explained while Justin was on his way.”

Conner nodded. “Got it.”

“Conner! Kira! Charlie!” Their heads whipped around as Tommy raced over to them. Other older Rangers were heading toward their younger collegues to see if anything else needed to be helped with. Tommy, for his part, just looked relieved. 

“We’re fine,” she said, pulling her mentor into a hug. “Thanks for coming.”

“And thanks for bringing every other Ranger you could find,” Conner said in amusement. Tommy gave him a look. “You’re overprotective.”

“Like you were any better?” Charlie asked and Conner nodded.

“I let you fight when I realized there wasn’t an option,” he answered. He looked back at Tommy. “Justin’s our new tech teacher.”

Tommy glanced at Justin who shrugged. “I thought you quit,” he said. Justin snorted.

“They need me,” he answered, winking at Kira. She gave a quick nod to show she wasn’t upset.

Kira looked over at Tori. “How easily can you get blankets and supplies?” She asked. Tori grinned, grabbed Shane and Dustin by the arm and ninja’d off. She turned to the students. “I’m not going to make all of you stay, but all of you are welcome to!”

There was a rustle as the students stayed in groups, calling their parents so that they could stay for the night. Kira turned to her mentor and the other Rangers. “You’re highly encouraged to stay.”

Most of her staff laughed at that, seeing the piercing stare she gave them when she was displeased. Most of the others didn’t recognize it, but still were amused enough to go with it, making certain to make the time to stay for at least a while. When none of the kids headed home, each of them coming up with some excuse or another for their parents, she looked at Trent and Mack. “We’re going to need more supplies.”

Trent snickered. “Didn’t you just tell Ethan that I wasn’t an ATM a week ago?”

Mack amused expression showed that he’d been expecting it, but was letting Trent handle it. “And now I’m saying ‘Go and buy more blankets’,” she said. An arm swung around Trent and Mack’s shoulders and they looked to see Wes.

“I’ve seen that look from my pink,” he said conspiratorially. “We should probably do it.”

Both of the younger men laughed as they nodded. Kira ignored the joking at her expense. “Ronny, Conner, go with them. Take the bus.”

“Why Conner?” Tommy asked and Kira rolled her eyes.

“Because they both have super speed and they’re wanting to race. Might as well be in my favor,” she said. Conner gave her a quick hug and ruffled Charlie’s hair to the girl’s annoyance.

“Later!” He said, racing to the bus. The yellow streak following his red told them that Ronny was on his heels. Kira went back to ignoring them. It saved her time to not think about how they were idiots. She instead looked over toward Madison.

“Injuries?” She asked.

“Not many and nothing serious,” she assured her. Kira nodded.

“Initiate Plan Color,” she said and Madison nodded.

“Plan Color?” Nick asked from over by the Mystic Force Rangers. Will snickered.

“Kira has several plans in place. Plan Color is for when multiple Rangers show up. Maddie gets first aid supplies ready, Xander checks the school’s foundation, and I keep an ear out. I wanted to call it Plan Yellow and Blue, but only Conner was willing to go with it,” he said. 

“Why Yellow and Blue?” Lily asked, looking a bit insulted. Theo didn’t look much happier next to her.

“Because she came up with it after Dustin and Dax destroyed Madison’s office,” Will answered. “And she decided that too many Rangers were a disaster waiting to happen.”

“You’re exaggerating,” Kira informed him.

“I’m honest,” he answered. Kira looked at the rest of the Rangers and then at her students.

“Everyone stay outside,” she instructed. “I need to do a head count. And someone order some pizzas. I’ll call Ronny and Conner and tell them to pick them up on the way.”

She nodded and then moved away from the center to get away from being in control. She wasn’t surprised to see Will at her side, hand on her shoulder. “I’ll take it from here,” he assured her. She clasped his hand.

“Thanks,” she said honestly. He just smiled as students began to talk to the different Power Rangers and everything calmed down. She just closed her eyes and tried to rest for a minute. A school filled with students and Power Rangers overnight was often just asking for trouble.


	13. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After fight party and decisions are made. Mostly just chaos though.

It was chaos. That was the best term for it. Chaos. There were so many different people just running about and she couldn’t keep track of them all. Fortunately, she didn’t have to. Will was doing it for her. That said, the school was filled up far more than it ever had been. It would be impossible for her to know what was going on everywhere at this point and she knew that Will was more making certain that he just checked for larger threats. She looked over to see Cam trying to get Kay to interact with some of the others including members of his own team, Jarrod and Camille were double teaming the twins, several students were taking apart some of the left-over weaponry under several former Rangers’ watchful eyes, other students were listening to stories the older Rangers were telling and ideas were forming. She was amused at how careful Conner was with his wording even though he’d only screwed up once. She saw her terrible quintet huddled together to talk about something. Madison was staying near the medical supplies and glaring down Chip and Dax who had tried to convince her to let them play zombie with some of the ace band-aids.

“It’s a good school.” She looked up to see Jason coming over and sitting next to her. She opened her mouth to apologize for not letting him help, but Jason spoke up before she could. “I told Tommy you had it under control.”

“You did?” She asked. He nodded.

“You’re a smart woman,” he said. “And all four of you are capable. If there was a team that reminds me of my own, it’s yours, but that’s not why I have faith in you. We split up before we stopped being Power Rangers. You never did. The four of you have always kept in contact. You didn’t have a school to run like Jungle Fury and Ninja Storm. You didn’t have to help bring a town together like Mystic Force. You didn’t go your own ways like Operation Overdrive. All of you are different but you’re a team. That’s how I knew.”

She gave him a smile. “Thanks,” she told him. Her mentor’s best friend just nodded.

“And Kira?” He said as he got us. She looked at him. “That’s not the only thing you’ve done well.”

He motioned toward Charlie and gave her a smile. She shared it as he walked off, leaving her alone. She hadn’t realized she needed to hear it, but she had. She loved Tommy, but he worried. Carter treated her like an equal, but they were more business oriented. A lot of the others were still upset that the younger Rangers hadn’t let them help out more, even if they didn’t want to admit it. It was hard for her to accept, but she needed Jason’s remark.

“He’s right.” She looked over to see Tommy sitting down next to her. “About the school and about Charlie.”

“I’m still not sure what I’m doing with Charlie,” she admitted. Tommy laughed.

“I’m still not sure what I’m doing with you four,” he answered. “But I like who you’ve become. And Charlie has softened a lot.”

“She was afraid she was going to lose me, Doctor O. And she could have,” Kira said miserably. Tommy pulled her to him.

“It’s hard, isn’t it?” He asked. “When I first started mentoring, I didn’t worry if I died. I worried about the three of you. Then I figured out how hurt and scared you’d been when I was trapped in the amber. And it took even longer to figure out that you guys need me, not just your mentor.”

“When did you figure that out?” She asked.

“When I got out of the coma,” he admitted. “And the four of you could fight with me.”

“That’s just it,” Kira agreed. “She can’t and it’s hurting her.”

Tommy nodded and there was silence between them for a moment. She realized what she hadn’t wanted to accept. She was right and Tommy couldn’t tell her Charlie was going to be just fine if something happened to her. “We’ll take care of her,” he promised. “If something happens.”

“I know,” she said. “And so will the others.”

Tommy nodded and there was silence again, but this silence wasn’t the bad sort that she didn’t want to accept. She looked out again. It was still chaotic, but like the silence between her mentor and her as they relaxed, she didn’t see it as much of a problem. She leaned back and just relaxed for a bit as her mentor stayed with her for a bit.

***

Charlie had literally dragged Kay into their group. Her theory had been that if she’d had to socialize then Kay did too. Yuki had convinced Jarrod and Camille to let her watch the twins and their small group was far less quiet than it had been. Granted, Charlie wanted to let all three go with their plans as Kay was explaining to Gem and Gemma the better way to set off the device in their hand. However, the others had different reactions. Yuki was talking them down while glaring at Charlie, Tyson was snickering and staying out of it, Mat would ask a question every so often, and Blue was trying to distract Kay from egging on the twins. In other words, it was chaos.

The difference between Charlie and Kira was that Charlie craved the chaos at times. It meant that she knew what was going on and to expect the worst. Better, everyone got that way as well so she didn’t feel quite so paranoid. She felt normal for that time. The others in her group tended to just accept it. She turned away from egging them on to look at the various groups. She didn’t feel right talking to most of them though many of them had tried to talk to her. She’d greeted those that she knew and put up with Doctor Oliver, Ethan, and Trent asking her questions, but she didn’t know half these people.

Instead, she was trying to figure out why they’d all come. From what she knew, Kira and her generation of Power Rangers had wanted to do this on their own. Wouldn’t it have been easier for them to remind her of that and tell her that they weren’t helping now? That if Kira and her lot wanted to do it on their own, then they could hang on their own too? Why did they come to help? She knew that the answer was “Once a Ranger, Always a Ranger”. It was the same reason Ethan and Trent had come back, why Conner didn’t complain when Kira went crazy trying to get control, why Tori sighed and helped Dustin out when he made a mess, and why Casey tried to drag Jarrod and Camille into things. It also just made no sense to her. The entire Ranger Community made no sense. “Once a Ranger, Always a Ranger” meant nothing when you didn’t understand the meaning behind it.

It wasn’t just in teams either. She’d seen Dax and Chip earlier trying to tag-team Madison for her supplies. Kira’s staff only had one former teammate on it, two if you counted Tori and the second team they’d had. She had been told about the Red Mission to the moon and how most of them had never even met and were retired. She had watched as Justin had volunteered to help out when he’d never even met Kira. It made no sense. People just weren’t that nice to each other. At least, that’s what she’d seen. She understood Blue, Tyson, Mat, and Yuki. She even understood Kay, Gem, and Gemma better than most of the others. Yet, she’d also seen how well the twins were with Jarrod and Camille, easily accepting them as parental units. Kay had a bit of a different relationship with Cam, but not too different. She’d heard Shane’s complaints to Tori and Dustin that there were “Two of them now”. Yet, Shane still helped to keep an eye on the girl and to make sure everything was going well. Just like Conner did with her.

That was another thing she had to get used to. Before, Conner understood what it was like to be without powers when everyone else was fighting. Now, she couldn’t say that. She had to watch Kira and Conner race off to fight and stay behind because she couldn’t help them. She paused at that and looked at the others. They all knew that they were a team. It wasn’t very subtle. She just needed to push hard so that she could come back and help when it was needed. She might not be a Ranger the next time her foster mother was attacked, but she was going to be ready. They’d all ready. 

“We need to focus harder,” she said out loud. All of them turned to look at her. “We keep thinking we have more time. We don’t.”

Blue nodded his agreement. She guessed he would, but it was nice to see. “Next time, they might need us,” he agreed.

“What fight were you watching?” Tyson asked. “They kicked…”

“KIDS!” Yuki sputtered out quickly.

“Butt,” Tyson said quickly. Yuki nodded to him. “I just wanted to be there with them.”

“We can’t just become Rangers,” Mat interjected. “But maybe if we’re ready, but not chosen we can help more.”

“I’m for that,” Yuki said, grabbing Gemma as she headed toward trouble.

“If it’s a matter of uniforms, I can create some. It’s a matter of applying science,” Kay offered. Charlie smiled at her.

“Go for it,” she said, looking forward to the angry call Cam would be placing later. Kira was always in a better mood when she remembered that she wasn’t the only one having difficulties. Blue leaned into her.

“You seem more firm about this,” he mentioned quietly. She was quiet for a minute. She couldn’t admit that when Conner had raced off to fight, she was reminded that all of her guardians were Power Rangers. She certainly didn’t want to admit that she was afraid of being alone again. And it felt cheesy to admit that she really just wanted to be a better person.

“I know,” she answered instead. Blue let it be.

***

Conner and Ronny were lying on the ground, both out of breath. Yes, the Power gave them a lot of endurance, but apparently spending several hours using it still had its toll. He didn’t mind at all. The rush of his powers had brought him home. He was able to fight with his family again and racing Ronny was definitely a new favorite pastime. The yellow Ranger looked just as pleased with the entire situation. “Hey Conner?”

“Yeah?” He asked, not looking at her. Looking involved moving.

“Eight out of fifteen when we get up?” She asked. They could have just called it two out of three considering that they were even, but they’d been specific.

“You’re on,” Conner agreed. A shadow overtook them as they lied there. They looked upward to see Tori looking down at them with a certain amount of bemusement.

“Kira wants to know if you two are planning on pretending to be adults at all today,” she informed them.

“Does being adults involve racing?” Conner asked.

“No.”

“Then no,” he answered. “And you can tell her that I know about her pterascreaming when she got her powers back so she can wait.”

Tori looked at him. “She what?”

“She practiced her scream when she thought we weren’t looking. If she didn’t have to morph to do it, she would have been flying,” he answered. “She can wait. Besides, tell her that she should probably find out where Trent is hiding and tell Ethan to stop letting the kids try to break his armor.”

Tori took a breath and collected her inner calm. “I’ll let her know,” she said. Conner just nodded and then closed his eyes again as the shadow dispersed.

“I thought Tori was playing with Kay,” Ronny mentioned.

“She was until Charlie took her,” Conner answered. 

“So, you getting your powers back. It’s permanent, right?” Ronny asked.

“Yep!” He answered.

“Good,” she answered. “I was talking to Will…”

“What did he want?” Conner asked.

“Now that you have your powers again, he was trying to figure out team dynamics,” she answered honestly. Conner paused for a minute before answering.

“What did you guys think?” He said carefully.

“Depends on the situation,” she answered. Conner relaxed.

“That’s what I thought,” he answered. There was silence and Conner pushed forward. “And?”

“And a lot of the time, it’s going to make sense for us to work together and for Kira and Will to work together. Are you going to be okay with that?” She asked, rolling over to look at him. He rolled over and looked back at her.

“Because Kira and I are teammates?” He asked and Ronny nodded. He reached out and took her hand, giving it a squeeze. “We’re all teammates. You, me, Kira, Will, Madison, and Tori. I have two teams, like you and Will. Kira and Tori have three teams. Yeah, Kira and I know each other’s weaknesses and how to guard them, but we’ll get that way with each other.”

“You seem confident,” she said. “Why?”

“Nope. Not going to say it,” he answered. She gave him a quizzical look. “Last time I did, Kira became a headmaster and she drafted me.”

“I won’t tell anyone,” she promised. Conner looked at the genuinely confused look on her face and made a decision.

“Doctor O told me that he had lots of people he was Power Rangers with: Kim, Billy, Jason, Trini, Zack, Rocky, Adam, Aisha, Kat, Tanya, Justin, Kira, Ethan, Trent, and me. But that we were all his teammates. If he can have four colors and several teams, why can’t we have two teams?”

She looked surprised by that before she nodded. “Got it.”

“Besides, we’ve been a team for years. This is the first time we ever had to fight as one,” he reminded her. “We’ll be ready next time.”

She nodded firmly in agreement as another shadow loomed over. This one, however, dissipated quickly as Madison joined them. Both for them looked at each other and then back at her. “I’m tired too,” she admitted. Conner reached over and pulled her into a hug as Ronny did the same and each of them took her hands. They leaned into her and Madison just let them. Neither needed to say anything else. Conner and Ronny understood. They also understood that if Dax and Chip tried anything while Madison was resting, they’d chase them down and take it back before the other two could do anything. That understanding in the air, they stared up at the sky quietly for a while longer.

***

Kira sighed as she looked over at her resting teammates before rolling her eyes. She heard a snicker and glared over at Tori. “I have to be an adult and they’re lying on the ground. After they spent most of the afternoon racing each other. They both have superspeed!”

“He just got his power back,” Tori reminded her. “They did exactly what we knew they’d do.”

Kira sat back, feeling a little pouty, but letting it go. “You’re right.”

“I know,” Tori assured her. “It’ll get dark soon and everyone will settle down.”

“The worst part is that it’s some of the older Power Rangers who are causing trouble. Telling the students stories I don’t want them to hear, making bad suggestions, coming up with terrible ideas. I heard stories, but I always thought Hayley was exaggerating,” she sighed. Tori looked amused.

“How often does she exaggerate?” Tori asked.

“Not often,” Kira admitted. She dropped the subject. “We did good today.”

“We did,” Tori agreed. “And we’ll do it right next time.”

“We’ll need to slow Conner and Ronny down first,” Kira grumbled and Tori snickered.

“Let them have their fun,” she suggested. “Madison and I weren’t much better when we let go.”

“Slight difference, Tori,” Kira said. “You two were out in the middle of nature and made sure nothing got destroyed. Ronny and Conner took off within three minutes of us powering down.”

“But they were there when we needed them,” Tori assured her. “And now we have Justin to help the soon-to-be techs, Charlie’s team fought back when they needed to, and we know we can count on everyone.”

“Yeah,” Kira said with a smile. “We did learn that.”

“So, what are you going to do now?” Tori asked.

“Today?” She asked. “Try to relax. Tomorrow, I think I know what the next step is.”

“What is it?”

“I’ll tell you tomorrow?”

“Deal.”

As the Rangers and the students messed around, enjoying the time off, Kira pushed aside any lasting worries she had and just let herself into the minute. It wasn’t much. It wasn’t what she was expecting, but it was enough.


	14. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Plans and Alliances are formed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this one is so short! Hope you like it anyway!

Kira reached over and put on the best clothes she could find having made several business savvy Rangers go shopping with her so that she had the right clothes for this. She buttoned up her shirt and put the jacket on after. She reached over and put on the fancy looking boots which were both fashionable and functional. She shouldn’t have to fight, but a Power Ranger should be prepared. They often weren’t, but that didn’t mean they shouldn’t be. She did up her hair and got it out of her eyes before looking in a mirror. “Ugh.”

“You’re the one who wanted it,” Tori teased from the sidelines. A snicker from the other side of the room told her that Ronny and Madison were equally amused. The problem was, they were right. She hated to admit it, but she had needed this to happen in order to get what she needed. She sighed.

“Doesn’t mean I don’t feel completely not like me,” she answered. “I did this in high school. I told myself I wouldn’t do it again.”

“I think we all made promises in high school without knowing the future,” Tori said gently. “I did.”

“Me too,” Madison offered. They looked at Ronny.

“What?” She asked. “I didn’t.”

“I believe that actually,” Kira said with a small smile. “I know it’s important to look my best and professional, but I still hate it. Will, you and Conner can come in now. I know you’re eavesdropping down the hall.”

“You don’t have to call me out,” Will complained as he opened the door. Conner followed him in, looking completely amused. Kira just rolled her eyes at him as he did so. She wouldn’t have to call him out if he could just learn to be less stupid. It wasn’t that hard.

“Don’t be so obvious,” she suggested, ignoring his look of annoyance. “Besides, you’re always listening. Unless it’s something that I’ve asked you not to. It’s nice. I don’t have to worry about calling you.”

He glared at her further. “Still.”

“Besides, I know you’re still upset that I’m not letting you come,” she said. Will looked even more upset.

“You shouldn’t go alone,” he said. She sighed.

“If we want them to trust us, we have to trust them,” she said. “And they helped us out a lot before the attack. If they hadn’t have let us known, someone could have gotten hurt or killed. The school could have been destroyed. Being diplomatic and going to them might help us out in the future.”

Will folded his arms. “I’m not asking you to take an armada,” he grumbled. “I’m asking you to take someone with.”

Kira held up her bracelet. “I’ll call if I get into trouble,” she said.

“What if they ambush you?” He asked. Conner looked over at him.

“Doctor O put in a tracking device years ago,” he said. “To all of ours.”

“Your mentor spies on you?” Madison asked and Kira shook her head.

“Hayley did it and she did it while we watched. It was after we were going to college. There were nightmares involved,” she answered, looking uncomfortable. Conner took over.

“Trent,” he answered. “Trent was having nightmares about losing us. We talked about it and found out that Doctor O was having similar dreams. We volunteered so that they’d feel better. It’s only there if we don’t check in with anyone for a while after lots of calling and texting.”

Will smirked. “Sounds like something I would do.”

“That’s why we didn’t let you mentor,” Kira scolded. He rolled his eyes.

“You might be her mom,” Will said. “But Charlie’s a communal kid. We’re all raising her up.”

Kira sighed. “Anyway,” she said, stressing that was a conversation that she wanted dropped. “How do I look?”

“Weird,” Conner answered. She glared at him. “You asked!”

“Like a business woman,” Will offered.

“Which is weird,” Conner insisted. “You still look hot.”

“Conner!” It was amazing how loud Tori and Kira could be when they snapped together. Madison’s eyes had widened and Ronny was hiding her laugh. Will just stood with him, looking at Conner, nodded and looked back at her.

“You do look hot,” he agreed, pulling some of the pressure off Conner.

“I’m going to go before I hurt you both,” Kira snapped. “Tori! You’re in charge.”

“I’ll watch them,” she promised. “Good luck!”

“Thanks,” she said and looked toward her fellow yellow. “Ready?”

“To drive my bus?” She asked. “Always.”

Kira sighed and headed out, ignoring the argument behind her on whether or not it was okay for Conner to have put it that way and whether or not it made things better or worse for Will to agree with him.

***

SPD was a space organization. Because of this, Kira had originally thought that she’d have to go to space. When she’d been told it was still on Earth, she’d been pleasantly surprised. It wasn’t a fully functioning building yet and she could see the protests and counter protests in Newtech City over it being built. The idea of aliens was still a very divided topic and she knew that Briarwood was leading the way toward them being accepted, but that didn’t make them accepted now. It was slightly frustrating if she wanted to be honest. More than slightly especially knowing several aliens and helping to raise one. She sighed and stood straight before walking past them. She could hear the anti-alien slurs even though she wasn’t an alien. She was able to ignore it. She made it through the doors as an Aquitian looked over at her. His uniform read that he was SPD and she relaxed a bit.

“Kira Ford?” He asked. She nodded. “I am Vocurus. I was asked to escort you.”

She motioned for him to lead the way as she followed him down the hallways. She wondered if they knew her family’s history with Aquitians, but she was glad to see an ally. The building was still under construction, but it was as sterile as she expected. She wondered how many of the had trouble with the air on Earth or humidity or even just diseases. She knew that Tommy had never mentioned it as a problem other than Aquitians’ dehydration issues, but that didn’t mean that it couldn’t happen. She followed past some of the room where other aliens from SPD looked over at her. She tried to ignore it, but felt uncomfortable. Not with them, but with the situation in general. She hated to admit it, but she was starting to wonder if Will was right and she should have let him come just so she didn’t feel so alienated.

In the back, where it looked like the communication room was getting set up, she was led in and seated. There wasn’t much there and she took in what she could from her seat, not wanting to get caught touching anything. She saw the more militaristic aspects, but she didn’t know much about SPD anyway. That was part of why she’d come. She knew that they were on their side, that they’d tried to work with morphers, and that everything had come crashing back down and affected the kids of the scientists working on it.

“Kira Ford?” She looked up in the doorway and jumped a bit. She didn’t know what she’d been expecting, but the large, blue dog in the doorway wasn’t it. She pulled herself together quickly as she stood up.

“That’s me,” she said. The dog nodded.

“I’m Commander Anubis Cruger,” he said. “I was told you wanted to meet with me.”

“I do,” she said quickly, pulling herself together. “I was told that you were the one who gave the warning about our school. I wanted to thank you personally.”

Cruger nodded and she knew that they were on the same page. Each side was trying to figure the other out without giving too much information out. It was clear from the morpher project that SPD hadn’t been working with Power Rangers. The most they had been working with was Wes and that wasn’t by much. That was fine, but it also meant that they were an unknown quality just as Cruger was to her. She looked at him and then looked away, letting him have control in his own base. “I am pleased that no one was hurt,” Cruger informed her.

“So were we,” she said with a smile. “I’ll put my cards on the table, Commander. I have no idea what SPD is or why you’re here or why you were trying to create Power Rangers, but you helped us out so I want to know. I’d like for us to be allies.”

Cruger looked a little pensive as he listened. “We tried to create Power Rangers,” he said. “But it failed. And then when it worked, we lost one.”

“I know,” she said. “Wes said they were workable, but they weren’t stable enough. I heard that you’re not using them anymore.”

“We’re not,” Cruger agreed. “It’s not worth the risk. And Power Rangers are apparently a large community than we thought.”

Kira nodded. “That doesn’t mean we can’t help you figure out some of the problems,” she offered. He looked at her. “I needed to know about this place, but I think we also might be able to work together. You’ve never attempted to make Power Rangers before. I’m guessing you’ve never really worked with them.”

“We were told they were strong warriors,” Cruger answered. “But they’re more than that.”

“They are,” she agreed. “We are. We’re defenders of our planet. You have Aquitians. I’m surprised you haven’t worked with any Power Rangers yet.”

“SPD tends to keep to their jurisdiction,” he answered. “We couldn’t this time.”

“Why not?” Kira asked. Cruger looked at her and sighed.

“You’ve heard of Grumm?” He asked and she nodded.

“A little bit,” she said. “We’re not as knowledgable as you are.”

“He destroys worlds,” Cruger started. He looked to the left a bit and Kira knew there was more to it than that. Her patience paid off. “He destroyed my world.”

She looked at him. “I’m sorry,” she said honestly.

“When I heard he was heading this way, I knew I needed to stop him,” he said. “I’d heard about the Power Rangers and I thought that maybe they could help. I was surprised to find out that you weren’t an organization.”

“We’re a family,” she said. “We’re not like a military.”

“I noticed,” he answered.

“What about SPD? What do you guys do?” She asked. 

“Space Patrol Delta,” he answered. “We’re an intergalactic police force.”

“Maybe we can help each other out then,” she suggested and he looked at her. “This attack on my school scared us. It’s hard to fight and protect students at the same time. If we hadn’t gotten the warning we did, it could have ended worse. You sound like you need Power Rangers, but don’t know how to do it.”

“And?” He asked.

“I have a school of kids who are learning about Power Rangers, how to be Power Rangers, and how to work the technology of Power Rangers. The Power wouldn’t have sent them to my school without a reason and your base sound like it’s it,” she answered. 

“And what do you get in return?” He asked.

“I just want to know when things go wrong. Like you did before,” she said. 

“We were already helped by Wes Collins,” he brought up. “And it still failed.”

“Wes isn’t a tech. He lent you his morpher,” she said. “I’m talking about kids that are learning to build morphers and zords and weapons.”

Cruger looked intrigued by it. “And in return, you want updates?” He asked. She nodded.

“For my own piece of mind and so that we can concentrate on helping the students coming to you to be prepared,” she answered. He nodded.

“Some of them will have to go through SPD’s academy,” he warned. “Those that want to be involved with fighting.”

“That’s fair,” she assured him. “They’ll understand how to be Rangers, but they need to know how to be officers too.”

He looked at her and sighed. “You have a deal.”

They reached out and shook hands as Kira felt more certain about the future. “Glad to hear it,” she said instead.


	15. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A new year, new allies and students, begins. It also means others leaving and figuring out new ways to handle things.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it's been so long!

The rest of the year was uneventful fortunately. Taking down a small army apparently meant that others were going to leave them alone for the most part and her deal was in place with SPD. She and Commander Cruger later had decided to talk at least once a year to keep in touch. She wasn’t sure, but she had the feeling he liked having someone to ask questions to who was the equivalent of the same rank as him. Which was why as the end of the year approached, she wasn’t surprised to hear that several of her older students weren’t going to come back.

“That’s seven,” Kira said, placing it in another pile. Conner looked at it as she did so. He’d agreed to stay to help her work through the newest part of the job.

“They all applied to SPD?” Conner asked and Kira nodded.

“Justin isn’t worried about them,” she said. “All of them are techs. He thinks that they’re just doing what they're supposed to do.”

“You believe in destiny?” Conner asked and Kira shook her head.

“No,” she said. “I believe in us teaching them well enough to know when and where they’re needed. Hopefully, this means that everything will be ready by the time Grumm shows up. They’re all nearly adults, Conner. We knew they wouldn’t be here long.”

“Still,” Conner said. “It feels like he’s poaching our kids.”

“He’s not poaching,” Kira said, rolling her eyes. “He’s trying to prepare for something we don’t understand.”

“And he does?” Conner asked. Kira looked at him before looking through several folders and tossing one down in front of him. Conner opened it and his eyes widened. “The entire planet? The monster Cruger is after destroyed an entire planet?”

“Yep,” she answered. “And it wasn’t the only one. He knows this threat, Conner. He’s the mentor.”

“Does he know that?” Conner asked and Kira snickered.

“Nope!” She said cheerfully. “But here’s another thing: They might have more than one Ranger team.”

“More than one?” Conner asked, looking surprised. “I thought they didn’t even know what to do with one.”

“They don’t,” she agreed. “But that’s why we’re here.”

Conner shrugged and then nodded before leaning back. “So, it’s going to be quieter then,” he mentioned, not looking happy. Kira hid her smile. Conner might have protested often about Kira’s drafting, but he was also loved each of the kids they brought in and tried to make sure they were okay. He wasn’t going to be happy about them having to leave. That said, she knew what would distract him.

“We’re going to be getting new students too,” she said casually. His eyes lit up and she knew that she’d fixed the problem. “Cole is tracking some more since we’re losing some of the students.”

“So, how are we going to make it work?” Conner asked. She smiled at his candor. It was actually one of the reasons she’d needed him here.

“I think we’re going to need to have second year courses,” she admitted. “Those that are coming in can’t learn the same as those who have been here.”

“We can figure something out,” Conner agreed. “But what about time?”

“I think if we split them off into different times for everyone, we’ll be okay. Newest kids first, then second newest, and so on,” she answered. “Unfortunately, I’m not sure how much that will affect different year potential teams.”

“Considering everything so far,” Conner said. “I don’t think you’ll have anything to worry about.”

She nodded. “Alright. I’ll work on a ‘so you’re leaving’ speech, you work on getting the teachers to figure out classes by year and we’ll make this work.”

He grinned back at her. “You got it, Boss.”

“Aren’t you ever going to get tired of that?”

“Nope,” he answered. “Never.”

She glared at him until he was about of the room before her glare faded into a smile. As obnoxious as he could be, she was grateful he was there.

***

“When I opened the school, I wasn’t sure what to expect. We had a plan, but executing the plan was something completely different and it was something we'd never done before. As I stand here today, I can say that we succeeded because I am extremely proud to announce our first graduates: Sarah Hall, Russ Melburne, Amy Smith, Lyle Winchester, Erin McCallister, Andrew Knightly, and John Marcus,” Kira called out as the rest of the school cheered. She shook each of their hands. “I know I speak for everyone, but especially for myself, when I say that you are welcome home anytime.”

The room erupted into a cacophony of cheers and exclamations. She just stayed back as the students congratulated their former colleagues with various ways of saying ‘Job Well Done.’ They’d already informed the remaining students that they would be entering a second year and that the classes would reflect that. She was pleased to see the excitement on their faces. She headed over to her newest teacher.

“You did a great job with them,” she informed Justin. He smiled back at her.

“We all did,” he agreed. They watched as the kids were exchanging information and enjoying the day in a way they couldn’t with their families. There were few families who knew where their children were actually going and that was because they’d somehow figured it out. Only one of those graduating had a family who knew. So for the graduating students, this was the only celebration they would have. It wasn't a lot right now, but a few more classes of students in, there would be alumni to also congratulate them. “Cruger is a lucky… uh… commander.”

She snickered a bit at that, but her look told him that she completely agreed with the sentiment. “They should be able to help with what Cruger’s scientists were having trouble with.”

“There are other planets,” Justin said thoughtfully. “Why haven’t they helped?”

“For the same reason we were dubious,” she answered. “SPD wasn't sure if they could trust Power Rangers and Power Rangers weren’t sure if we could trust them. I got a call from Billy and he said that the Aquitian Rangers are keeping an eye on it to see if they should help later. I think that they trust Commander Cruger now since I met him, but they’re not sure about the rest of it.”

“Do you know why?” Justin asked. Kira looked thoughtful.

“Have you seen anything for SPD?” She asked and he shook his head. “The symbol is a dog. It started on Cruger’s planet. It was a Sirian creation.”

“And?” He asked.

“Commander Cruger isn’t in charge,” she answered. “An alien bird is.”

“Hmm,” Justin said, looking thoughtful about it. “It could be that he thought he’d do better on the front lines.”

Kira nodded. “I know,” she said with a small smile. “I hate suspecting anything, but I want to be ready. Anyway, I trust Cruger.”

“That’s important,” Justin agreed. “We’ll handle the rest of it as it happens.”

They shook hands and Kira headed off, making quick small talk with the students as they passed by. She still had a lot to think about.

***

It didn’t feel like they were that gone that long when the former students kept coming back one by one to give Kira information. They weren’t acting as spies, but rather were absolutely happy with how they were treated and what they were able to do. Kira hadn’t known how worried she had been up until that point, but the agreement with Cruger seemed to be going well. She was equally surprised when Will came to find her.

“Who is doing what?” She asked with a sigh. “And can Conner and Ronny handle it?”

For all of her complaints over the two not taking things seriously, they had both managed to pull it together and tag-team any problems. Trying to get away from Ronny was hard, but with Conner to back her up, it was nearly impossible. It also meant that fewer problems of that caliber crossed her desk. If Will was here, she already knew the answer to her second question. “It’s not a problem exactly,” Will said. All of her attention was on him. “It’s about if we’re supposed to let an unauthorized person in.”

“What do you mean?” She asked.

“I mean Commander Cruger of SPD is outside the edge of the school and would like to come in,” Will answered. Kira blinked. The commander and her contacted each other, but neither had been to the other’s area since the agreement.

“Let him in,” she said. He blinked. “I intruded on his territory, it’s only fair.”

He nodded, heading off to tell either Ronny or Conner. Kira looked around her office to make sure nothing important was visible before following after. She could let Conner handle this, but she felt it was important to do this herself and she really didn't want his poaching comment out in the open. Several of the students looked over as she moved past them and even more were trying to see what was going on in the opposite direction. She thought about getting them to get back to class, but decided against it. The fact that they were paying attention seemed more important. Will had made his way back to her, though he wasn't getting so close that she'd gave to introduce him. Just close enough to get involved if necessary.

Conner was leading him back, talking about something as they moved. The Commander nodded a couple of times. It was the Commander’s companion that caught Kira’s eye. The cat-like attributes outed her as an alien or from Briarwood and considering she was with the Commander, she was guessing the first. The outfit she wore had Kira guessing that she was a scientist. They stopped when they saw Kira and she gave the Commander a polite nod before turning to the other. Conner quickly stepped up. “Dr. Manx,” he said politely. “This is Headmistress Ford. She runs the school. Kira, meet Dr. Manx. She’s Commander Cruger’s lead scientist.”

“It’s a pleasure,” she said and Dr. Manx grinned.

“It is,” she agreed. “I’m afraid I asked Doggie to see this place so that I could see where our new technicians came from.”

“Are they working out?” Kira asked, suddenly a bit worried and Dr. Manx’s eyes shimmered.

“Extremely,” she answered. “Everything is going better and smoother.”

“I'm glad to hear that,” Kira said, meaning every word of it. The two of them shared a smile before Kira looked back at Cruger. “And what do you think of our school?”

“It's organized,” Cruger answered. Kira wasn't certain, but she was pretty sure that was a compliment. She looked around and began to point out the buildings to him.

“That's our tech department. It's new and still small, but we have plans to build more labs. Justin is the head of it. I should introduce you to him, Dr. Manx. Over there is where our magic teacher and diplomacy teacher are. They're both wizards and the former isn't the best at not catching the school on fire so we set him out a little bit. Most of the other Ranger classes are over there on the left. The nurse is over there on the right, away from the classes in case anything happens. And my office is this way in the center,” she said politely. She looked at the students and decided that they'd seen enough. “Back to class!”

She saw more than one teacher fleeing back to their classroom as well and tried not to sigh. She swore that sometimes they were worse than the students. She led them up to her office and showed it around. Cruger looked at her. “It's better than I had thought,” he admitted. She raised an eyebrow. He held up a hand. “I meant that I didn't know Power Rangers were this organized. It's good to see.”

She just nodded. Especially since she knew that they usually weren't so organized and she didn't want him to know that. She looked over everything instead and then shook his hand, sending him on his way. He wasn't insulted. Both of them knew that she'd been more than fair. She took the rest of the afternoon off and took it easy.

***

Cole kept his promise and brought in the next recruits. Among them was an older, yet qualified teen who was looking for help with something specific according to Cole. He wouldn't tell Cole what it was nor would he tell Kira, but she still offered to help him. “I don't need to know as long as it's not going to cause problems,” she assured him.

“I need to make a morpher,” he said. “I just can't tell you why.”

“Okay,” she said, recognizing someone connected to their world when she saw one. Just because he hadn't finished building it yet, didn't mean he wasn't one of them. “Go to Justin and explain what you need. We'll work through it from there.”

She watched as he raced off and Conner looked at her in amusement. “Tech?”

“I don't know,” she said. “I like him, but there's something off about it.”

“You feel it too?” Conner asked. “At least it's not a bad feeling.”

Kira nodded. He was right. She didn't feel as if Antonio was going to do something bad as much as she was worried he would be reckless or not think things through. In other words, he felt as much as a Ranger as he did a Tech. She would have thought that he'd just be a blue or green then, but he wasn't giving her that vibe. If anything, he was giving her the vibe of a sixth ranger. It wasn't unheard of for those two things to go together, but it wasn't usual. Really, it meant that she would just have to figure him out.

“So,” she said, changing the subject. “You ready for them?”

“Always,” Conner said with a grin. “Go Team Cohesion.”

“And you were upset you got drafted,” she teased and he looked at her.

“Still upset,” he answered. “You're a terrible person.”

“Your fault.”

“Doctor O's fault,” Conner corrected her. “And look at the school. I think it's worth it.”

“You're not the headmistress,” she reminded him and he grinned cheekily at her.

“Nope,” he said. “I'm the guy who helps the headmistress deal with her issues and keep the teams from killing each other, Boss.”

Kira snorted and then nodded to get him to go away. Conner cheerfully obliged and took off for a bit. “Conner?” She called, knowing he could still hear her. “Thanks.”

She heard the grunt down the hall and tried not to laugh when Tori came in. Her second took a seat at the desk and relaxed for a moment. It had been a long few weeks. Kira did the same. Tori opened one eye. “So, word is we're not sure about one of the students?”

“Only that I don't know which classes to get him to take,” she said. “He's either a tech or a Ranger.”

“So have him take both,” Tori said. She looked at her closer. “You're worried.”

“I don't think he'll be here long enough,” she admitted. “I don't think he's going to stay any longer than he has to, Tori. And I'm okay with that, but I just wish that I knew he was going to be okay besides that. He's so young.”

“So were we,” she reminded her. “And now he has people he can return to.”

Kira nodded. She wasn't sure why he was going to do what he wanted, but she was definitely putting him into Team Cohesion and the Tech class. She just had to figure out from there what he'd benefit from next. After a minute, Tori put down a piece of paper she'd written on that read 'Ranger History'. Kira looked up at her. “You looked heavy in thought. I didn't want to interrupt.”

“That's perfect,” Kira said. “We'll get him in the three classes and that will hopefully be enough.”

“Why did he want to come?” Tori asked and Kira laughed.

“He wants to build a morpher,” she said. “But he can't tell me why.”

Tori nodded. “Okay,” she said. “We'll help him build a morpher, get him ready if he's a Ranger, and hope he sticks around long enough to learn a few things.”

Kira smiled. “I hope he does.”

***

Antonio didn't stay too long, which surprised no one. Kira was a bit saddened by that. He was cheerful and talkative, got along great with both students and teachers, and was less prone to getting into the kind of trouble she dealt with from Charlie's group. He was also exceptionally smart and took in everything. Charlie even admitted that she thought he was at the top of his class. “Are we going to count him as one of ours?” Charlie asked. “Because he says he's leaving soon.”

“If they come here,” Kira said. “They're one of ours. Whether or not they stay for a night or for years.”

Charlie nodded. “So, he'll be the first Ranger to graduate,” she said and Kira laughed.

“I don't think he's graduating.”

Sure enough, he came to her the day before he left. “It's finished,” he said. “Justin thinks it will work great.”

Kira smiled. “So, that's it then?”

“I have to go,” he said apologetically. 

“Tell you what,” Kira said. “When you're done doing what you need to do, come back and tell me about it.” 

He grinned. “I will. Adios, Profesora!”

He was gone by the next morning. Kira wasn't surprised and just sent a note to the various teachers. He knew that he'd have a home there. That's what mattered. She wondered if every new year was going to be like this.


	16. Chapter 15

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Good-bye to the future A-Squad and hello to future B-squad.

It wasn't a new year when they got their newest students. Kira had been expecting members of SPD started to drop their children off or rather, she'd been expecting the children from the lab accident at SPD. “Schuyler Tate. Sydney Drew, and Bridge Carson,” she said, looking at each teen in turn. Her hands were behind her back at this point as she looked them over. She knew that they were going to be training at SPD soon as well, but she also noticed their cracks.

She'd been around Charlie and her friends long enough to recognize minor issues. She was pretty sure that they were going to be Rangers, but there was no team cohesion between them or others at all at the moment. She looked all of them over. She'd read that they had abilities and what they were. She knew that they could work together with what they had. Looking at them, however, they weren't going to. Bridge looked overly nervous, Sky just seemed annoyed by the whole thing, and Syd wasn't really paying attention to the other two. That said, her team hadn't started off great either and they were very close at this point.

“Welcome to Rainbow Academy,” she said. “We'll work with the three of you to get you in the right classes and make certain that you'll be efficient in whatever you decide to do. As with every student, Training, Ranger History, and Team Cohesion are mandatory classes for everyone. Other classes are optional.”

The three of them didn't say anything and Kira inwardly sighed. She knew that Sky didn't want to be here. He wanted into SPD now, but Kira had talked to Cruger and let him know her thoughts. Cruger had agreed and insisted that the three went to Rainbow Academy first which he'd put forward to their parents. Bridge was probably the most amiable to be here, but his powers also meant that there would have to be some accommodation. Syd didn't really care one way or the other about SPD or Rainbow Academy right now, but she'd admitted that she might be joining SPD in the future. Knowing this, she tried to look sympathetic.

“I know this isn't what you wanted to be doing right now, but you need to learn this so you're safer in the future,” she said. “Commander Cruger, Cole, and I all agree that you have the potential to be Power Rangers. We want to make sure that you're safe.”

“Being a Ranger isn't safe,” Sky snapped. Kira pushed down the sigh.

“I'm sorry about your father, Sky,” she said gently. “But that's not something that usually happens. And we don't want it to happen again. That's why we built the school. All of us are former Rangers.”

“Everyone?” Syd asked. Kira nodded. “Even the lady that drove us here?”

“You didn't recognize Ronny?” Kira asked. “She was in a public team.”

“Operation Overdrive,” Sky said, frowning at Syd. Kira just nodded.

“The classes you have to take are taught by Ninja Storm Yellow, Jungle Fury Red, and Dino Thunder Red,” she said. “There are two minor exceptions with languages and battle tactics, but they've fought with us so we tend to forget that they weren't Rangers before. They're part of our team.”

“What about you?” Syd asked. Kira smiled.

“Dino Thunder Yellow,” she said. Sky's lip turned up a bit.

“You're not a Red Ranger?” He asked.

“Nope,” she answered. “My Red Ranger was Conner, the head of Team Cohesion. Ms. Hanson wasn't either. She was Blue. But I was elected to be Headmistress.”

Eventually they'd know what all of the students eventually knew: Other Rangers were terrible and Kira had been drafted. They just didn't need to know that right now. Even when they did know, it ended up really pushing home the point that none of her colleagues had thought that she needed to be a Red Ranger to be in charge which was something that Conner would push in Team Cohesion. It was times like this that made her glad Jen was far in the future and not within throttling range for comments like that. The leader pink would have been furious. It was probably safer for Wes too that way even though he would be the first to insist that she'd been in charge. 

“Every color is important,” she continued. They'd hear it again in Conner's class, but it was a lesson that was important enough to repeat. “Each person helps the others out in various ways. Conner was important, but he couldn't have won it without the rest of us. Never doubt that whatever color you end up with is the color that you're supposed to have.”

She didn't mention that she knew Bridge would be a Ranger and apparently go through three different colors. The fact was he started with Green so he was a Green Ranger even if she'd met him when he had a red morpher. He was the only one she knew would be a Ranger, but was keeping that quiet. She wouldn't be the one to ruin the timeline. She did not want a lecture from Wes or Eric about responsibility and the importance of not changing it. Nor did she want Time Force to come back into the past because of her, as much as she'd enjoy meeting them. She was pretty sure it was never great to meet a team under the clause of “You destroyed everything we ever worked for”. Xander was praying that Bridge didn't want to take Diplomacy so that they wouldn't have to try to deal with him every day while both Kira and Tori were grateful that unless he was in trouble, they could delegate him to Conner. The less contact, the better.

Sky looked ready to argue with her but she narrowed her look at him. “My mentor was four different colors,” she informed him. “One of which was Red. Conner was Red. I have a lot of good things to say about both of them. But they couldn't do half of the stuff Ethan can do with a computer. Conner would be lost without Trent watching his back. And all three of them would be running around like cats if I wasn't there to keep them on track. Trust me. Your entire team is needed.”

She understood, partially, that a lot of it was trying to live up to his father and she knew that you can't measure up to a dead man. It was going to take a lot before Sky was ready to accept that he was perfect the way he was and didn't need to be like his dad. Hopefully, he'd outgrow this.

“Tori will help you with classes. I have more paperwork to do,” she said and motioned with her hand toward the door. They all left, though Bridge did pause in the doorway. She glanced up at him. “I'm a little tired, a little stressed, but it's nothing to be concerned over.”

He nodded and headed off after that though she was saddened to see a little surprise on his face from it. She shrugged it off and didn't worry about it. His team would back him up and give him the confidence in his abilities that he was lacking.

***

Halfway through the year, Kira was starting to wonder if maybe they had it wrong with the trio. Even Charlie had snorted when she'd mentioned they were supposed to be a team. “If I reacted to my friends the way they do with each other, Blue would kill me. And that's if I was lucky,” she said. “They're probably just different teams. Didn't you tell me that SPD was supposed to get multiple teams for different threats according to Commander Dogman?”

“Commander Cruger,” Kira said, giving the younger a look. Charlie just grinned cheekily at her. Kira sighed.“But you're probably right,” she admitted. The two of them laid back on the roof, staring upward. “I guess since they showed up together, I just thought they'd be a team.”

Charlie grinned. “Didn't Trent warn you not to make assumptions? He warned me.”

“And that's why I need you to not mention this to him,” she said. “Or Doctor O.”

“What'll you give me?” Charlie asked.

“Your life.”

“Pretty sure you won't kill me. It would be a bad example,” she said, leaning over on her side. “Besides, you need me and my friends to show off how to be a proper team. Especially since we're the best you have right now.”

Kira just closed her eyes. “Why can't you all be like Antonio?”

“Because you're not lucky enough to have every student of yours come in, learn for a month and a half, and take off to be one of the best sixths any team ever had,” she said. “You're lucky you had one.”

“I like you better when you were less mouthy.”

“Liar,” Charlie said. She paused and sat up. “We need to talk.”

“You're feeling the pull?” Kira asked. Charlie looked at her in surprise. “I explained to you that the Power drives you to where you need to go. I know I've been working on borrowed time, Charlie. But don't leave until you're ready.”

“I won't,” Charlie assured her. “It probably won't be for a while.”

Kira didn't believe her. That was alright. Charlie didn't believe herself either.

***

Kira held back her tears as she saw the paperwork Charlie had set on her desk a month later. She'd been dealing with the newest trio, stopping several magic students from nearly setting the field outside the school on fire, and writing another note to Justin that she appreciated his help, but could he please not let the Tech students take apart the bus because it made the other tech savvy Rangers upset. Not to mentioned Ronny. So when Charlie came in, she almost missed what she was there for. 

“Is this what you really want?” Kira asked. She knew that she couldn’t keep Charlie with her forever, but she’d been hoping for just a little longer. Instead, the SPD paperwork sat on the table between them. Kira knew then that it wasn’t just the techs that SPD was going to get. They were going to need Power Rangers and Charlie’s group were the best qualified.

“I wouldn’t be in here if it wasn’t,” Charlie answered. The look she gave Kira was one that plead for understanding and Kira could give her that. She reached over and pulled the paperwork to her, looking it over. She paused at the name.

“Charlie...” She started and Charlie looked away.

“I can change it,” she said. “I mean, if you're not okay with it.”

“I just wasn't...” Kira said, touching the paper as if that made it more real. “Of course it's fine!”

“I... I don't remember my last name, Kira,” Charlie said quietly. “But that feels right. And that have to call me something, right?”

“Are you sure?” She asked.

“More than,” she answered. “Conner's pissed. He wanted me to take McKnight.”

Kira rolled her eyes. “If everyone had their way, you'd be Charlie Ford-McKnight-Astin-Hanson-Robertson-Rocca.”

“I think I'll just stick with Charlie Ford,” she said. Kira nodded squeezing Charlie's hand before looking back at the paperwork.

“Everything looks right,” she managed to say. Charlie nodded.

“Blue has his filled out, but he wanted his family to know first. Tyson and Mat said they’ll bring theirs by later. Yuki is waiting to tell Jarrod, Camille, and the twins. She already told her parents,” she said. Her voice was almost business sounding as she spoke. Kira choked back any pain she had.

“I’m sure it will be fine,” she said. “They don’t need to come by…”

“They want to,” Charlie said quickly.

“They’re always welcome,” Kira answered just as quickly.

“I know you probably wanted more but…” Charlie started.

“I want you to be happy,” Kira said firmly. “If this is what you want, this is fine. Cruger will be lucky to have you.”

Nothing was said for a moment and Kira could hear the clicking of the clock on the wall as well as the others outside. It reminded her that while everything felt different to her, the world was carrying on. Yet, she was looking at her first student, her surrogate daughter, and having to say good-bye. “I’ll come back,” Charlie promised. “When I can. And I’ll call.”

“Good,” Kira said. “I’m not telling Conner. You’re going to have to do that.”

“She already did when she told me she took your name.” Kira looked up at the doorway to see Conner hiding his pain from them both. Years of friendship told her where to look, but she wasn’t about to call him on it right now. “I did the ‘I’m proud of you, give them hell’ speech.”

“Conner!” Kira groaned and looked at Charlie. “Do not give them hell, Charlie.”

Charlie just laughed at the two as Kira was glaring over at Conner and Conner was looking amused. “Not sure I can’t,” she admitted. Conner looked smug.

“Try,” Kira instructed. She sobered up. “When are you going to have to leave?”

“Few weeks,” Charlie answered. “Long enough for us to finish everything up here.”

“We’ll get to work on making sure you get a graduation,” Kira said. She was surprised her voice wasn’t cracking. Charlie just nodded in agreement. Kira looked at the section for recommendations and looked her daughter in the eye before writing two words. “Highly recommended.”

***

Blue hadn’t bothered to only show Madison, Chip, and Xander. He knew that they weren’t the only group that deserved to know. He headed over to Xander, paperwork in hand, and took a breath before he spoke. “Xander?” He asked. The man looked over at him. “I’d like to visit Briarwood.”

Xander blinked. It was their day off. He didn't have anything else planned, but it was unusual for Blue to ask them for anything and he just often went with what they wanted to do. “Sure,” he said quickly. “I'll go get Chip and Maddie.”

“Thank you,” Blue said, trying not to fidget. It didn't take them long to get back to Briarwood, one of the bonuses of being raised by wizards. He made certain not to drop anything when Vida pulled him into a hug, followed by Phineas, and then Leelee.

“What are you guys doing home?” Vida asked. Xander motioned to Blue.

“He wanted to come home,” he answered. She just grinned.

“You should want to come home more often. I'll go get Clare, Nick and his parents,” she said. Leelee smiled.

“I'll get Mom and Toby,” she said. Phineas nodded.

“I'll get P.J.,” he said. They were all off. Once everyone had been gathered together, Blue pulled out the paperwork and looked at the people who had been supporting him, who had let them into his family.

“I filled out the application for SPD,” he said softly. “We all did. I think it's the right thing to do.”

There was silence in the room before Xander smiled at him. “If you think you're ready, then do it.”

“You'll be great,” Madison assured him.

“We're going to miss you,” Chip said honestly. Vida, gently smacked Chip's arm.

“It's not like he can't visit,” she said. “Like those of us who aren't teaching at a Ranger school have to do anyway.”

Udonna just nodded. “You're always welcome home,” she said.

Blue just looked at the paper. “It's not mandatory,” he said softly. “But there's a section that asks for your family's opinion and I was wondering...”

He didn't get the words out before the papers were taken from him and an hour long fight over who got to go first occurred. The winner was Clare who had just done it before anyone knew she had. She'd winked at him and he'd smiled back in return. He was going to SPD, he'd be an officer one day, but he knew then that this would be his home.

***

Tyson headed into the room and smiled at R.J. And Casey. “I guess all that training stuff worked,” he told them, holding up the paperwork. “Because I'm ready to go use it.”

“Did you tell your mom?” Casey asked. Tyson nodded.

“She sounded proud,” he answered. “And she signed off on it. I think she was worried.”

“You knew what was right,” R.J. said. “She just hasn't seen the inner you.”

“I just wanted to say thanks,” he said. “And I'll see you when we come visit.”

“Are you thinking you'll have time?” Casey asked and Tyson rolled his eyes. 

“I'm the only one of us who got 'big brothers' instead of 'adoptive parents' no matter what the others think,” he answered. “Charlie will want to come back as soon as she gets her uniform, Mat is going to want to talk to Tyzonn, and Yuki is going to go nuts if she can't check on the twins.”

“What about Blue?” Casey asked.

“We'll drop him off in Briarwood before we get here,” he answered. “Look, thanks for everything.”

“We just helped you find your inner strength,” R.J. said. “And we're proud of you.”

“Very proud,” Casey agreed.

Tyson couldn't help smiling when he headed out the door.

***

Mat's good-bye to Tyzonn had been the shortest of all of them. He had the feeling that Tyzonn had already known, but he'd just headed in and sat there next to him for about an hour silently. Neither of them discussing it. 

“I'm going to SPD with the others,” Mat said. “It felt right.”

“Call,” Tyzonn said.

“I will. You'll be here when I get back?”

“Yep.”

“Good,” Mat said. “I'll come back.”

“I'm counting on it,” Tyzonn answered and they went back to companionable silence.

***

Yuki headed into the room, papers in hand. She'd told her parents and while they were worried, they hadn't tried to stop her. She knew that Camille and Jarrod would be fine with her leaving even if it meant they didn't have a handler for the twins. She felt fortunate that she essentially had two sets of parents supporting her. It was the twins that she was worried about. She knew that the two of them wouldn't be happy about it. They had been coming to her for a while now with their ideas and she'd finally gotten a handle on getting them under control.

She headed in as Gem practically pounced on her. “Come see what Gemma and I did!” He called out in excitement, dragging her in. She let him lead, not wanting to tell one twin without the other and not wanting to tell either without Camille and Jarrod. She was surprised, however, when she found that the two hadn't managed to blow up half the room, but had been painting. It was clear that they'd worked on it together. Half of it looked like one painter and the other half from another. Camille and Jarrod looked far larger in it than they did in real life, but she was guessing that was so the other three could fit in front. Yuki was in the middle, dressed in pink, as Gem and Gemma had decided to play with silver and gold for themselves. That made her a little nervous, but they were at a Ranger School. They had to have picked up on color theory. Jarrod and Camille had a hand on each of her shoulders and then the other rested on the twin's heads. Gem was holding Yuki's left hand while Gemma was on the right, each little artist having painted their sibling instead of themselves.

“It's beautiful,” she said to the two hyperactive siblings. Both of them looked more than happy over her comments. She pulled them into a hug. “Thank you.”

Camille peaked into the room, followed by Jarrod. Now she really wasn't sure how to tell them and she was beginning to have second thoughts. She looked at the twins and swallowed. Gem smiled. “You can...”

“Take it...” Gemma continued.

“With you!” They exclaimed at once. She blinked and then looked up at Camille and Jarrod who smiled back at her, though she could see the sorrow in their face.

“You knew?” She asked and Camille smiled.

“Gem and Gemma have been waiting,” she admitted. “And asking when you're going to go be a Ranger.”

She looked at them worried. “Then the gold and silver...?”

“We're hoping is just because they're at the school,” Jarrod answered quickly. “But yes.”

She had Sixth adoptive siblings. That didn't bode well. She'd taken Mr. Mcknight's class. She knew what sixth Rangers tended to be like. That said, other than Mr. Stewart who was the weird one, she hadn't heard of a child Ranger so they might grow out of it or at least be adults when they got their powers. She handed Jarrod the paperwork to look over and he handed it to Camille. “She's better at it,” he admitted.

“Everything looks in order,” Camille said, handing it back. She added a note of support in the proper section and had Jarrod do the same. She then looked at Yuki. “Are you going to be okay?”

“Do you mean am I going to be okay to be a Ranger?” She asked. Camille nodded. “I guess? I mean, I don't think that feeling is going to go away, but it's hard to hate Mr. Rhodes when he's so apologetic and Tyson's 'big brother' and R.J. is amazing. And even Lily and Theo came out to apologize and spend time with Tyson.”

“Anything from Dom?” Jarrod asked, sounding a little annoyed. She just smiled at him.

“Not yet,” she said. “But that's because Theo can't find him. I think this is what I need to do. And I can't leave Charlie, Blue, Tyson, and Mat in a lurch, right?”

“Right,” Jarrod answered. “I think you can do it.”

“I'm going to miss you guys,” she said. She pulled Gem and Gemma back to her which they happily let her do. “I'll visit.”

“You better,” Jarrod said. “Or I'm sending Camille after you. If anyone can break into SPD, it's her.”

Camille just rolled her eyes and smiled at Yuki. “He's exaggerating.”

“You would do it though?” She asked and Camille nodded.

“I'm a former villain,” she said. “I'm not going to let anyone hurt my children.”

Yuki smiled. “I'll try not to give you any reason to need to.”

“Thank you,” Camille said. “Dinner is ready.”

The twins were racing off, but Yuki made sure to put the picture by her bed. She'd leave after.

***

Kira just stood in her office, trying not to cry. It was quiet. Way too quiet. She knew that wasn't true, exactly. It wasn't any quieter than normal, but she knew that if she walked outside, she wouldn't see Charlie smirking down at her from the rooftop. She wouldn't hear the snickers from the other teachers telling her what the five had been up to and then making her deal with it. She knew that she'd find Chip, Xander, and Madison trying to cheer each other up by the fountain. That Jarrod and Camille would be trying to handle the twins without a third voice. That Casey and R.J. wouldn't be at training today. And that Tyzonn would be the one who seemed the most okay with everything and yet the pain would be hidden in his eyes.

She let out a sigh. “Ronny and Conner went for a run,” she heard from behind her and turned to see Tori looking back at her. In the doorway, Will looked equally invested. She could feel the sadness coming from them too.

“It's what she needs to do,” Kira answered. “She's grown up.”

“We're still going to miss her,” Tori said. “Blake is constantly gone, but I miss him.”

“I miss all of my team,” Will admitted. “And I never thought I'd want one team, let alone two.”

“Is that your way of saying 'Never leave me'?” Kira teased. Will snorted.

“I got along fine without you,” he answered. “I'm just worried about how you'd do without me here.”

She thought it would be easier for him to just admit he needed them, but that wasn't his style. Instead, she rolled her eyes and pretended to take him at face value. There was silence between them for a minute before Tori spoke up again. "We have our first team heading out," she said. "We just need to concentrate on the rest of them."

"I thought I'd at least get to throw a graduation party. I even told her I was going to and she made sure to leave before I could,” Kira grumbled. Will snorted.

"Charlie wouldn't want that kind of attention," he reminded them. "And I don't blame her. We got off lucky with that team."

"Have you forgotten the trouble they gave us?" Kira asked. Will shrugged.

"Better than the new team," he said. "This is going to be a long couple of years."

Kira glanced out again and smiled. "Maybe," she said. "But I think we'll be fine.


	17. Chapter 16

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Learning to deal with B-Squad... using similar tactics as they did with A-Squad.

The next two years seemed to drag by if for no other reason than the three likeliest Rangers in their midst. When they had first shown up, it was believed that it was a matter of when, not if, Bridge, Sky, and Syd became a team. As it was, with their attitudes, it was quietly discussed over whether they'd even be Rangers. As it was, Madison burst into Kira's office in an uncharacteristic rage. "How long until we can get their powers under control?" She demanded.

Kira blinked. "I'll have to ask Casey," she said gently, trying to soothe her nurse. Conner was following Madison in, looking exhausted in a way she hadn't seen since he got his powers back.

"There was an accident," he said. Kira was on her feet. Usually, the largest accidents happened in Chip's class, but he would have let her know. He also was able to get it under control in a quick manner and Madison wasn't angry. For both Madison and Conner to be here, that meant it had to be something else. "We're not sure exactly what happened, but there was an unscheduled sparring match, Syd used her powers, Sky used his, a couple of the magic-users panicked, and about ten kids were sent to the infirmary. It's okay, Kira. Everyone is fine."

Kira looked at Madison who nodded once. "It could have been worse."

Kira headed to the window and just said one phase without yelling: "Will, I need you here."

Ronny raced her teammate up and Will was immediately on his guard. When he realized there wasn't any immediate danger, he calmed down and looked at her. "What do you need?" He asked.

"What happened?" She asked, knowing that he had to know more than she did. Will folded his arms and sighed.

"I think," he said. "That Sky has a lot of issues that they didn't tell us about. And I think it came out today."

"What he means is," Tori said as she came through the door, arms folded. "He is fixated on being a Red Ranger, he isn't taking Team Cohesion seriously, he's hurting from losing his dad, he thinks he has to be stronger than he is, and I think Bridge and he suffered in school from having their abilities."

Kira whistled. "That's a lot of problems," she said. "Any ideas on how to help him?"

"Lots of counseling?" Conner suggested. "But that's the problem. No one outside the school seems to get that him being like this is a problem."

Kira rubbed her temples. "That means his mother thinks this is normal behavior," she said. Will looked a little uneasy.

"If she lost her husband," he said quietly. "And she didn't get therapy for her or Sky then, I'm not sure if she will now."

"They're still minors," Kira sighed, knowing there wasn't much they could do about it. "Alright. What about Syd?"

"She's the healthiest of the three," Madison said. "She was apologetic and worried, completely confused on how it happened, and has no control. It's like she was just told to never use it."

"That might be why she didn't have trouble at school," Conner offered. "She was able to hide it. I'll talk to her about it."

"You?" Kira asked. Conner rolled his eyes.

"She's tactless, I'm tactless, it'll be fine! Besides, I think I can understand her a bit," he said easily. "I'm worried about Bridge, though. He doesn't have his own abilities down."

"It's like they just think the gloves will handle it," Madison said. "And I don't think they are. The problem is, I don't know how to handle it either and Bridge keeps quiet about everything. Including when he's overloaded."

"Justin's been handling it," Will said and they looked at him. "The kid like tech, Justin is the teacher for that, he's handling it. He said he didn't know how to control the powers, but giving him technology to work with helps."

Madison looked thoughtful. "It probably helps that he's not getting any feedback from technology like he does with people," she said. 

"So," Kira said. "We handle them like we did Charlie's group. Conner says he can handle Syd. And Justin is watching Bridge, so we'll just have someone watch over Sky too."

"Who?" Tori asked. "I hate to say it but I don't think he's going to handle anyone less than a Red Ranger."

"Well," Kira said. "Then he's not getting one. He's going to have to accept that other colors are important too."

"So, just keep switching him around?" Tori asked, not sounding like this was the best plan. Kira had to agree with her, but right now, she couldn't thinking of anyone who could do better at the moment. They were going to have to work with what they'd been given.

"I don't have anyone in mind," she admitted. "Start him with Dustin and then we'll work from there. He's one of the three Rangers that's a mandatory teacher and the only one who isn't Red."

Tori nodded. "I'll let him know," she said. She sighed. "I'm still not sure this will work."

"Just between all of us?" Kira said. "Neither am I."

"That's reassuring," Will said. Kira glared at him. "But I don't have a better idea either."

"We'll give it a try," she said. "We can figure out something else if it doesn't work."

There were some nods, but all of them were a little worried.

***

It turned out, they had every right to be worried with Sky. With Syd and Bridge, however, they were able to work with them more. Conner had had Syd stay after class the next day and waited until he finished what he was doing before he looked at her. "We need to talk, Syd," he said.

"I didn't mean to hurt him!" She said quickly and Conner held up his hands.

"Whoa!" He said. "I know. I also know that you don't really have a handle on your powers, do you?"

She looked at the ground. "I hid them."

"Because you were popular," he said with a nod. "Just like you are now when you aren't here. At your other school, you don't want them to find out."

She blinked and nodded. "How did you...?"

Conner folded his arms and sat across from her. "When I was in high school, before I became a Ranger, I was the best soccer player on the team. I was popular. I was able to get away with a lot. Then, all of a sudden, I became a Power Ranger and everything changed. I didn't have time to do all of that stuff from before. I was hanging out with people I barely even noticed before that. And I lost a lot of that popularity stuff."

She looked at the ground. "So, you're saying I should deal."

"No," he said and she looked up again. "I'm saying that I understand why you kept it secret and it's fine to keep it secret. You're not a Power Ranger, Syd. You're at this school because we think you will be, but that could be tomorrow or ten years from now. What I want is for you to understand that even if you are popular and don't want others to know, you still need to get a handle on your powers. Otherwise, you're going to keep hurting people."

Syd looked at him. "Did you ever hurt anyone?"

"My teammates when I first got it. Turns out that rushing into someone when you're going super fast breaks bones," Conner said. "But my mentor made us train a lot so it wouldn't happen often. And Headmistress Ford was the one that really had to work on it."

"Why?" Syd asked and paused. "I don't think I've seen her use hers. Does she still have one?"

Conner laughed. "Oh yeah," he answered. "It's called a Pterascream. It is amazing. And hurts. A lot."

"Hurts?" She asked.

"Well, Kira could point it, but there was always collateral damage," he said. "Meaning, we had our ears ringing afterward and that was after she trained it. She didn't mean to, but that's just how her powers worked. Doctor O just tried to help with the amount of damage she did."

"Oh," Syd said. "So, you can help me make it so I don't hurt people by accident? Because that really sucked."

"Of course!" He said. "You'll learn more from Casey, er... Mr. Rhodes later, but I can give you some pointers before then. If you want it."

"I do," she said. "Thanks."

He nodded. "Don't worry about it. We've got to stick together so that there's fewer students with broken ribs."

"That's not helping."

"I broke Ethan's ribs once," he offered.

"That does help."

"Good."

***

Bridge was babbling about how it worked and Justin was trying to nod at the proper times while at the same time making sure that everything the students had worked on today didn't explode. Even without them being in the room, some of the inventions like to go off if he didn't check them. Like Chip, the department had a lot of explosions. Unlike Chip, none of them were caused by the teacher. That said, he and Chip had a bet on who could get the fewest non-productive explosions this year and he was not about to let a mage beat him. Besides, both of them had taken it as a tech vs. magic sort of battle. Even if Justin had been mentored by Zordon, he was still a tech.

"I think it will work," Justin said when Bridge stopped talking. "I just don't understand why a super-fast toaster was that important to you."

"I like toast," Bridge said. "It's buttery."

"Oh," Justin said. It seemed logical to him even if it wasn't something he'd have made. Then again, a lot of the things here weren't things he'd make. "Then go for it."

Bridge grinned and looked back down at his creation before looking back up. "You understood what I said?"

"Yep."

"Usually people don't or if they do, they don't have the patience to listen to it but you seem like you've been listening this whole time unless you've just been pretending to," Bridge said.

"I've been listening," Justin assured him. "I listen to all of my students."

Bridge just nodded.

"Have you been feeling okay in class?" Justin asked, looking at him intently. Bridge fidgeted a bit and Justin held back his sigh. "I thought so. Listen, I can probably convince Headmistress Ford to just let me give you private lessons..."

"No!" Bridge said. "I mean, it's fine. The other students do it so I should be able to too. It's just getting used to it which I can do unless I can't do it but I want to give it a try instead of getting special treatment."

Justin nodded. "If that's what you want," he said. He would have rather been able to give him the break, but he also knew what it was like when everyone else noticed you were getting special treatment. He didn't say anything else about the subject, but just tried to help Bridge out while silently wondering if they could somehow get a hold of someone who could help. Bridge needed more than what they could give him.

***

Justin stood next to Kira as she spoke to Wes. "I hate to ask," she said. "But he needs it."

"I'm not sure if they can," he admitted. "I mean, coming back from the future is kind of a big deal. I'll check."

"Thanks!" Kira said. "I'll talk to you when you know?"

Wes nodded. "Good luck."

"You too."

Kira looked at Justin. "We've done what we can," she said.

"Let's hope it work," Justin agreed. 

Two weeks later, they got their answer. “Umm... excuse me?” Kira looked up to see a man she didn't recognize in the doorway, almost fidgeting. “Wes told me that you needed my help?”

Kira blinked. It took her a minute before she burst into a smile. “Trip?” She asked and he nodded. “Wes didn't tell me you could help! He wa supposed to have called!”

“He thought this would work better,” he answered and she rolled her eyes. He just grinned at that. 

“We weren't sure you could make it back,” she said honestly. “Because of the timeline.”

“Alex said that Bridge already screwed things up with his 'little jaunt into the past' and Jen told me to try to keep it as stable as I could,” he answered. “I just wanted to help Bridge.”

“I don't care what the justification is,” she admitted. “I need the help. And getting it from a member of the family sounds great.”

Trip just smiled. “So, you guys have a school?” He asked politely. She nodded. “Can I ask a question?”

“Of course,” she said.

“Why does everyone call you 'Boss'?” He asked. Kira's smile slipped.

“Do you know for certain if said in the history books that Conner lived to a ripe old age?” She asked and he shook his head. “Good. CONNER!”

***

She didn't kill her colleague, mostly because Trip reminded her that he needed to be in the past as little as possible. She calmed down and led him to the Tech Classroom. Trip's eyes lit up at that. “Wow,” he said and Kira smiled.

“Focus,” she said, trying not to laugh. “Bridge! Can you come here?”

The teen did so, looking at her in confusion before like recognized like. Justin moved over to where Kira was as Trip was talking to Bridge. “I can't stay for too long,” he was saying. “But let's at least help you learn what you're seeing and feeling.”

Bridge just nodded. Kira watched as Justin listened and took it in. “Hoping to be able to help him later?” She whispered.

“Can't hurt,” Justin answered.

As Bridge took the gloves off, Kira wished she could see what the young man was seeing because the smile on both Trip and Bridge's faces were of pure joy. When Trip had to leave, Bridge looked a little lost before Justin took back over. “Come on,” he said. “You can help me with this new project.”

“We have more explosions this week?” Bridge asked and Justin laughed.

“I wanted your help anyway,” he said, making sure not to touch the skin. “And Chip was bragging. We can't let the mages win!”

“Isn't Chip your best friend? You guys talk a lot and joke around and seem to like each other most of the time...” Bridge started, but Justin cut him off.

“Chip is one of my best friends,” he agreed. “He's also a mage. And it's a matter of pride.”

“Okay,” Bridge agreed and Justin was pleased to see that he was less upset with the other telepath's return to the future. He was also pleased at how well Bridge was able to concentrate. So when Bridge wanted to do a headstand to think better, Justin picked out a corner of the room and didn't say a word about it.

***

Dustin tried with Sky. He attempted to engage him and get to know him. All of the other teachers had been able to help with other students: Conner with Syd, Tyzonn with Mat, Justin was helping Bridge, Casey had taken on Tyson with R.J's help, Jarrod and Camille had had Yuki, and Chip and Xander had had Blue. And that didn't include the staff. So when Tori had said that Kira wanted him to try with Sky, he jumped at the chance to have someone to teach and bond with.

Unfortunately, it didn't seem to work. Sky listened to him well enough because he was a teacher, but that was it. Eventually, Dustin decided that maybe bonding over Ranger stuff might help. Sky just stared at him. "You became a Ranger because you were late to class? And they let you be a teacher?" He asked, not sounding impressed at all.

"And because it was destiny!" Dustin said. "Sensei even showed us the prophecy."

Sky just stared at him. Dustin's smile started to fall a bit. He pushed forward, however. "And we did great! We got Hunter and Blake and then Cam and we totally won, Dude! It was like awesome!"

"I'm going to go now," Sky said. Dustin stood up.

"Wait!" He said and Sky turned to look at him.

"Class is over, right?" He asked. Dustin nodded and Sky walked out. Dustin didn't try to stop him a second time. Instead, he dragged himself up to the Headmistress' office and knocked on the door. Tori was the one who answered it.

"Dustin?" She asked. He looked at the floor.

"I've been trying for two weeks," he said softly. She could see that he was trying to hold back how upset he was, but his eyes were shining. She pulled him into the office. "I just don't think it's working, dude. And I'm running out of ideas."

Kira took his other side and helped comfort her fellow Yellow. "I can find someone else," she said gently. "I'll send Will."

"No, dude, I want to do it," Dustin said urgently. "I just need to know how to talk to him."

"Dustin..." Kira said, but he shook his head.

"He wants a Red mentor," Dustin said. "But I don't think he knows how they work. Like I don't think he's be happy with Shane."

"Why not?" Tori asked, now feeling protective of both her Yellow and her Red. Dustin gave her a small smile.

"He wants a Jason Red," he said. "Or Carter."

"He'd be upset with Conner then too," Kira said. "He has an idea of what a Red Ranger is supposed to be."

"Exactly dude!" Dustin said. "And like he doesn't get that they aren't all that way!"

"So even if we switch it up," Tori said. "He's going to act this way until he gets a Red Ranger, but the Red Rangers we have on hand aren't what he wants."

"So I'll just keep trying," Dustin said firmly yet still looking completely upset. Kira really wanted to pull him off the assignment, but she also trusted Dustin. He might not succeed, but he wanted it more than everyone else. "I just need help on how to reach him."

Kira sat back. "What happened today?"

"I told him how we became Rangers and he totally just left," Dustin said and Tori groaned.

"You what?" She asked and looked at Kira. "Be happy none of your teammates want to admit how you got your morphers."

"Always am," Kira assured her. She paused. "He just left?"

"It wasn't a mandatory class," Dustin reminded her. "So I couldn't make him stay, dude!"

Kira smiled a bit at that, though it was almost predatory. "I can fix that," she said, but she looked at Dustin firmly. "Are you sure about this? I don't want to put you into a bad situation."

Dustin nodded. "I want to like keep trying," he promised. Kira reached over and pulled him into a hug.

"Thank you," she said softly. She might not have wanted to hurt him and she wasn't thrilled that he was willing to put up with Sky's idiocy, but she was happy that she had someone who wanted so hard to help. Especially since her next choice was Will who would have complained to her. Often. "I'll get it set up to where meeting with you is mandatory for him. He'll do it. He wants to be a Power Ranger."

Tori smirked. "So, you're using that against him?" She asked.

"Of course," Kira said. "I'm pretty sure that's my job."

"Uh... If you decide to quit," Dustin said. "Can I like not have your job?"

Kira frowned. "I'm not allowed to quit," she huffed. Tori wrapped an arm around Dustin's shoulder.

"She means 'No, I won't draft you and I love doing this, but if I let everyone know that, they'll think they're right for drafting me'," she said. Dustin nodded.

"Like Cam and Hunter?"

"Exactly."

***

Once it was mandatory, Dustin had a better idea of how to handle Sky. He was a teacher, after all, so that just meant that he had to transfer that to here instead of being Sky's friend. Granted, he would have rather been both, but just trying to get the kid on the right track would help. It was slow going and he frowned when he came back. "I think we have a bigger problem, dudes."

"What?" Kira asked, looking over at him from her desk.

"I think his mom wants him to be red, dude," he said and Kira winced. It would make sense. Losing a husband meant that she'd either want Sky away from all of it or she might try to push him to be her husband. There were other options, of course, but the two former choices tended to happen when someone decided against getting the help they needed. And Mrs. Tate needed the help. Unfortunately, that meant that Sky felt like he was dealing with it from two different people that he needed to do this. He wanted to make his mother proud and he wanted to live up to his father. Kira held her head.

"I'm not sure what else we can do, Dustin," she admitted. He nodded in agreement. "I think we're just going to have to deal with it. We haven't had another fight. We gave the other two ways to work with it, it will be fine."

"About that..." Dustin said uncomfortably. She sighed.

"I know there's a betting pool with the other students that says they'll be on different teams. They won't," Kira said. There were times she wondered if she was right, but she still remembered everything that Bridge had said. "If you want some quick cash, bet that they will be together and Rangers. I need to get back to work."

He nodded and headed out the door as Tori made her way in. "Little harsh, Kira."

"We know they will be, Tori and I don't like the betting pool. I just know I can't stop it," she said. "Charlie made the suggestion too before she left, but I've thought about it since then. You remember what Bridge said."

"What if we were wrong?" Xander asked, heading through the door to both of their surprises. "What? I heard about it and Dustin said he was going to talk to you about it, Mate."

She nodded at that. "I don't think Bridge was lying. He mentioned Commander Cruger and then Sky. So, I'm getting that they were on the same team since Bridge didn't move up to Red until Sky became commander."

Tori's expression shifted. "You understand what that means, right?" She asked. They looked at her in confusion. "Bridge went up in color twice."

Kira's eyes widened. "Oh no."

"Well, Sky doesn't seem like a Red," Xander said, but he looked just as uncomfortable. Kira sighed.

"I'll let Conner know and we need to be on alert when Sky gets his morpher," Kira said. "Because he is not going to be okay."

"Maybe Dustin will get through to him," Tori offered. Kira hoped so, but she had a bad feeling about this.


	18. Chapter 17

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Charlie has a surprise for everyone that they all needed.

Charlie was sitting in her chair when Kira came into her office, causing the headmistress to jump. Charlie just snickered at her. "You have a teammate that went invisible and another that blends into walls and I'm what makes you jumpy?"

"Charlie!" Kira said, ignoring the part of her that said she should probably reprimand the girl for being so cheeky. Instead, she made her way over and pulled her into a hug. "I wasn't expecting you back here!"

Charlie grinned. "Because it's not a holiday?" She teased. Kira smiled. "I just wanted to see you and the rest of your team."

"Which one?" Kira asked absently to which Charlie laughed.

"The first and third," she answered and Kira groaned.

"I'm starting to sound like Doctor O," she grumbled.

"I'm telling Tommy," Charlie teased before looking serious. "I'm going to show everyone else later, but for now..."

She held up on her wrist so that Kira could see her wrist. Kira just looked at it for a minute, taking in what she was seeing and then back at Charlie. "You got your morpher?"

"Cruger handed it over. Did this whole speech thing and being proud and then he gruffed that we better not mess up," she said proudly before giving Kira an amused look. "You were right with colors."

Kira smiled a bit and then groaned. "So you're..."

"Red," Charlie said. "Conner is going to have a field day."

"At least you aren't a sixth," Kira muttered. She paused for a minute. "Though Antonio did work out."

"I still don't think you should be able to take credit for that," Charlie said. Kira snorted.

"Try and stop me," she answered. "Alright. I'll call Tommy, Ethan, and Trent and gather the others. We'll just have a large party."

"Will is probably getting everyone together now, you know," Charlie brought up. Kira paused and then nodded. "Unless he really started to slow down since I left."

"He hasn't," Kira answered. "He's as annoyingly overprotective as usual."

"Uh huh," Charlie said in amusement. "So, when you got your morpher, did you feel this excited too?"

"Actually I felt a lot of panic," Kira answered. "I suddenly had powers and I was kidnapped and then I had to tame my Zord."

Charlie just stared at her. "So," Charlie said. "Did you ever think that they put you in charge of the school because everything about your Ranger career is nuts?"

Kira paused as well. "You have a point," she said. "But they could have picked Conner."

"No they couldn't have," she said. "Trust me, choosing you was a half-way decent choice."

"Thanks, Charlie," Kira said dryly.

"Anytime," she said.

***

As much as they wished the others could come, Charlie had had to show off her morpher to the others at the school before heading back to Reefside. Tori hugged Charlie. “You need to be with your family,” she said.

“You're my family too,” she reminded her and rolled her eyes. “You just don't want to deal with all of Dino Thunder.”

“Charlie,” Tori said wisely. “One day, you'll realize that you never want to be near any team when they have a full roster.”

“I'll agree with that,” Will said with a snort. “And Dino Thunder are insane.”

“I like them,” Ronny said. Will rolled his eyes. “And I've heard Ninja Storm isn't any better.”

“You should see Mystic Force when they're in a mood,” Tori added. “Trust me. It's better that we stay here and watch the school. But we're very proud of you.”

“Cowards,” Charlie said, but she was grinning.

“Very proud,” Will agreed. “But we're not going into that insanity.”

***

Ethan and Trent swarmed Charlie the moment she was through the door. They were quick about it, pulling away before she could get uncomfortable. Tommy reached over and grabbed her into a hug next, giving her a huge smile. The quartet were talking a mile a minute to each other in a way that she had learned to understand better once she'd formed her own team. She just sat down and waited. Tommy finally got them all settled down and looked at Charlie. "Let's see it," he said eagerly. Charlie looked at Kira who nodded.

"SPD Emergency!" She called and the suit came over her. Tommy smiled a bit.

"I think Andros might have been involved," he teased and Kira could see why. It did seem similar to their old uniforms. His smile shifted into a more serious look after a few seconds. "It looks good on you, Charlie."

"Thanks, Tommy," she said honestly. She glanced at Kira. "Well?"

"It does," she said. "And you'll make a good Red Ranger. I'm just grumpy I'll have to listen to Conner for the next eternity."

"Damn straight!" Conner said proudly, thrilled about the color.

"Try to be Blue next time," Ethan said and Kira glared daggers at him.

"She doesn't need more than one color!" Kira snapped. Trent glanced over.

"We don't want her to be like Doctor O," he agreed. "At least he finally stopped at four."

"He could still get called back," Kira said and it was Tommy's turn to glare at her.

"You've had three teams," he informed her.

"And kept my original color and powers," she reminded him. "I'm the closest to you, I guess, but I still haven't gone through colors like you."

"Conner's right behind you," Trent told her. "He has two teams."

Conner shrugged. "Be jealous all you want," he answered. "I just have more people watching my back."

"You're still mostly ours though," Ethan said and Conner looked at him.

"Usually you're trying to throw me under the bus," he said. Ethan snorted.

"Usually Charlie didn't just get her morpher," he answered. "And reassuring her that we want our stupid Red might reassure her that her team will want their way more competent one."

Conner paused for half a second before diving at him and both of them flew backward and over the couch. Tommy groaned. "Conner! Ethan! You're both way too old for this!" He said, trying to pull them apart. He glanced at Trent. "Would you help?"

Trent shrugged. "They aren't breaking anything yet."

Kira headed over and wrapped an arm around Charlie. "This is what you have to look forward to," she said and Charlie demorphed, faux-glaring at her adoptive mother.

"You lied," she said. "You told me it would be great. You put one of those two idiots in charge of teaching us how to get along."

"And you'll thank me for it," Kira answered with a grin. The two of them shared a smile even as their family members acted insane. Tommy continually called for Trent's help and Trent calmly sat back and watched. They heard a knock on the door and it opened to reveal Hayley, Anton and Elsa. Elsa glared at Hayley.

"You said they'd be done with the insanity by now," she scolded. Anton patted his wife's arm.

"I don't think it ever ends," he said as he headed over to Charlie. She grinned at him and held up her wrist. Hayley completely lost interest in consoling Elsa as she rushed to look at the morpher. She gently took Charlie by the arm to look at it. Elsa sighed and headed over to Tommy as Conner and Ethan threw him back and he landed next to her.

"That's not how you get them apart," she told her coworker. She reached down and grabbed each man by the arm, lifting them up. She narrowed her eyes as she locked a look onto each of them. "That's enough."

"Yes, Principal Randall," they both said in unison. Tommy just looked at her and back at them.

"You listen to her?! Why won't you listen to me?" He demanded. Conner blinked as Ethan rubbed the back of his neck.

"Well, uh..." Ethan started.

"Because Elsa is scary when she want to be," Conner answered. Ethan covered his eyes.

"Don't tell her that! Sorry, Elsa," he said. She waved it off.

"It has perks," she assured him. She moved over to Kira and pulled her into a hug. "Congratulations on your first team."

"Thanks," she said. "I'm glad you could make it."

"I wanted to be here for this," Elsa said. Anton was trying to gently get Hayley off of Charlie's wrist with Tommy's help as the young woman swore if Hayley gave her five seconds, she'd take the damned thing off and let her see it. "I just thought they might have settled down over the years."

"Cats. They're cats, Elsa," she said. "My team is, the school is, the teachers are..."

Elsa patted her back. "I know."

"And to try to punish him, I made Conner one of my teachers," she groaned. "What was I thinking?"

"The same thing I was when I pushed to get Tommy as my vice principal: Why should I suffer alone?" Elsa answered. Kira laughed at that.

"How's that working out?" She asked.

"Better than I thought. He whines about it though," she said, making sure her colleague could hear.

"I don't whine!" Tommy called back. Hayley rolled her eyes.

"It's whining," she said, moving away from Charlie. True to her word, Charlie quickly took it off and handed it to Hayley who immediately went into studying it. Tommy frowned at Hayley's words and Conner shook his head.

"They're ganging up on you," he told him and Tommy glared.

"Your team does the same," he said.

"This team does," he said. "The other one gangs up on Kira."

Ethan and Trent looked at her. "They do?" Both asked at the same time.

"I'm in charge," she answered. "Because of Conner."

"You mean because of Doctor O," Conner said easily. Ethan and Trent snickered. Kira turned her glare on them and they stopped. "Besides, we ran a perfectly good school and turned out a good team of Rangers so I don't think it's that important anymore. The important thing is you pulled it together and Charlie pulled her team together and it's a victory for all of us!"

"Don't we have to wait until I beat Grumm?" She asked. Conner pretended to think about it.

"Nope,” Conner decided. "You'll do great!"

Tommy set a hand on Charlie's shoulder and she turned to look at him. "You have all of us here if you need us," he said. "But you're ready. We know you'll make us proud."

"What do the other older Rangers think?" Charlie asked and Tommy smiled.

"They're proud of you," he answered. "All five of you. We already thought of you kids as family, but now you're officially part of the Power Ranger Family."

"Are there perks to being a Power Ranger?" She asked, looking at Ethan and Trent.

"I breezed through college," Ethan offered. Trent snorted.

"I have my team," he answered. Charlie winced. She knew that his time as a Ranger hadn't been easy on him. "That's more than enough."

"Really?" She asked. Trent sighed and looked at her.

"I nearly lost my dad, my freedom, and control," he said. "I got all of it back and I got a step-mom and extra parents in Doctor O and Hayley. I was able to run away with Ethan, I knew Conner and Kira would forgive me, and they're my best friends. And now I have you. It was more than enough."

Charlie walked over and pulled Trent into a quick hug. "I'm glad you didn't stay evil."

"I'm glad Cole found you," he answered.

"We all are," Tommy added. Kira smiled at her.

"So go make us proud," she said and Charlie just grinned.

***

It wasn't too long after before Sky, Syd, and Bridge were leaving as well. No one was overly shocked by the announcement since they knew that the three wanted to finish their training with SPD. Kira stood in her office, the rest of her staff behind her. She didn't involve the teachers right now. "Thoughts?" She asked.

"I'm worried," Conner said. "Dustin's done what he can, but I'm not sure if he managed to get through to Sky. Bridge is still wary about his powers and trusting them. Plus I think they still overload. Syd will probably be fine though."

"Really?" Kira asked and Conner shrugged.

"Comparatively?" He suggested. "It probably could go better. But her problem is more being self-absorbed. A month or two of being a Ranger will clear that up."

"Speaking from experience?" Kira asked in amusement.

"No," Conner said. He waited until her back was turn before nodding yes to everyone else. They didn't both holding in their snickering. "Point is, she should be fine. And hopefully, she can help whoever their Red Ranger turns out to be in holding them together."

"So we're hoping here," Will said. "We have no idea how this will go."

"Nope," Kira said. "So, let's just hope it ends well."

There was a look of agreement from all of them. She had one set of Rangers, now she just had to hope that Sky, Bridge, and Syd would pull themselves into a second group that they could be proud of.


	19. Chapter 18

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> RPM's Rangers arrive.

As the trio left, there was an influx of students. First off, Gem and Gemma were finally allowed to take classes. Second, Kay was expected to take a few as her father wanted her prepared even if she didn't end up being involved with Power Rangers. At the very least, she'd know of them and it was important for her to be more educated. Kira and Cam were both quietly guessing she'd be more than that. They just weren't sure if she was just going to be a tech, a secret keeper or something else. But two obvious sixths and whatever Kay became did not a team make. So when Cole began to drop others off, they realized the future team.

It was Scott who showed up first. He was pretty sure he didn't want much to do with this, but Taylor had actually been the one to convince him. She'd worked with his dad and realized that he had a lot in common with her. His father had asked about the elder son as well, but she and Cole agreed that while he was a good kid, he just didn't have the feel that Scott did. His older brother hadn't been upset over it and wished Scott the best even as their father hadn't been happy about it. Taylor had emphasized making sure Scott had a good support system so he didn't try too hard.

The second was Flynn. If Scott was difficult to get into the school, Flynn was nearly impossible. She could understand his father's worry. She could. After all, Flynn did seem to want to be a superhero and his father was worried about how hurt he could get which was why she'd sent Chip to talk to them. If anyone could convince a parent that it was possible to want to be a hero and still be alive, it was him. Chip had explained the school to Flynn's father and had helped him understand that they would be training Flynn so he wouldn't get as hurt. Once Chip had gotten him mostly on board, Kira had personally gone to talk to them afterward.

"I understand your worry," she said. "But that's why we have the school: To help the students have better information for when they are chosen."

"And you don't think it just encourages them?" He asked. Flynn looked distinctly ruffled which Chip was trying to calm. Kira smiled a bit.

"I think if he gets the call, he's going to answer it," she said. "No matter what you or I or anyone says. I was eighteen when I got mine."

Flynn's eyes widened. "Wait, you were a Power Ranger?"

"Only Power Rangers teach there," she said. "Even our Tech department has a Ranger teacher. Justin."

"You were only 18?" His father repeated. She nodded. "That's young."

"I was a senior in high school," she said. "My mentor was my science teacher who happened to be a former Power Ranger. And I learned, but a school would have been nice."

He paused for a minute before looking at her seriously. "And there's nothing I can do?"

Kira paused for a minute before looking at him. "When we were still building the school, Cole found Charlie, a little girl. We brought her in and raised her. All of us helped, but it was my name she took. She just got her morpher."

"And you're okay with that?" He asked. Kira smiled sadly.

"Not really," she admitted. "I was a Ranger. I know the risks, but it's who she is. So, I have to trust that we taught her well enough and that she's strong enough to handle it. And I know she is. Just like I know Flynn is. Being a Power Ranger means that you have to give your all to save the world, but it also means that you become part of a huge family. We'll have your son's back."

"Alright," Mr. McAllister finally agreed. "But I'm trusting you, Ms. Ford."

"Thank you," she said, taking his hand and shaking it. "I'll try to live up to that."

She had led Flynn back to the school and then prepared for the other students that Cole would be bringing. 

***

When she happened to tell Trent the name of the third member coming in, he laughed a bit before looking at her. "You're serious."

"What's wrong?" She asked and he winced.

"Remember how you were worried about Syd?" He asked. She nodded. "Summer Landsdown is a lot worse. She's spoiled, self-centered, and doesn't think about other people. Are we sure Cole didn't make a mistake?"

"He hasn't yet," she said. "And we have to hope he isn't starting to now. What do I need to do?"

"Well," he said, still looking unsure. "I guess maybe you should talk to Mack? He might know more than I do..."

"What about your dad?" She asked. "Mack's off with his dad right now."

Trent shrugged. "It might work," he answered. "I don't think they're quite in the same circles, but there's a reason why I recognize the name."

"Thanks, Trent," she said. "I'll call him."

"Anytime," he said. "You coming back for Christmas?"

"And I will find and drag Charlie back too," she assured him. "And maybe Conner. If he isn't annoying me at the time."

Trent laughed. "I'm looking forward to it," he said. "We miss you."

“I miss you too,” she said, hanging up after. True to what she said afterward, she decided to pay Dr. Mercer a visit, heading to his house after sending him a quick text. She knew that he could hide his expressions better than his son over the phone and she wanted to see what she was getting into. Elsa answer the door. "Kira!"

"Hi Elsa," she said, giving her a hug. "Your husband should be expecting me."

"He is. He asked me to stay," she said and Kira winced.

"Not a good sign," she admitted. "I'm starting to think Trent was right."

Elsa just smiled. "He'll be happy to hear that you said that."

"Elsa!"

"How am I supposed to bond with my step-son if you won't let me admit things like that to him?" Elsa teased. She needn't have bothered. Everyone knew that Trent had taken to Elsa rather quickly after she became good and that they and Anton had helped each other heal. "So, what's all this about?"

"It's the new year," she said. "And we have a new team forming."

"Again?" Elsa asked. "I'm starting to worry."

"Don't," she said. "There's nothing saying that it will happen soon. Besides, Charlie's team just got their morphers and Sky's group is just starting training."

"Time flies," the woman said with a smile. She looked beyond Kira who turned around.

"Kira," he said with a smile and she headed over, giving him a quick hug.

"Hello, Anton," she said. "It's good to see you."

"You too," he answered. "Tommy's still complaining that you can't see to call him by his name and yet..."

"We mostly do it to annoy him," she admitted. "And because we're just used to it now. Listen, Anton, Cole is bringing Summer Landsdown to the school and Trent sounded worried."

Anton blinked. "I never thought I'd hear that name with your school," he admitted.

"Trent wouldn't tell me how bad it was. He just asked if Cole was making a mistake," she admitted. He paused and then forced a smile.

"I wouldn't say that he made a mistake," Anton said. "But that's only because I know Cole's abilities. I am wondering why he chose her. She is spoiled and she does seem to only care about herself, but that's nothing compared to her parents. They're far worse."

"That's not a ringing endorsement. I take it they aren't going to want her to do it?" She asked and Mercer shook his head.

"Not a chance," he answered. "I do think it would be good for her, however, and I think we might be able to get her there. She'll have to be one of the students whose parents don't know."

"That's most of them," she said. "I'm happy for the help."

"Then just use your title and follow my lead. We'll get her," he said. Kira nodded.

"Thank you," she said. Anton smiled at her. 

"Of course," he said. "Elsa..."

"You need the 'family man' image?" She asked in amusement. He shook his head.

"I need you as a principal who believes this would be best for their child," he admitted. She smiled.

"Consider it done."

***

None of them really expected it to go as well as it did. Anton had easily mastered hiding his intentions and, like his son, she often wondered if evil completely went away or if this was just a Mercer skill set. When Elsa did the same, she decided that she was just glad they were on her side. "If my son was still young enough, I would send him," was Mercer's way of sealing the deal.

Kira looked into the Landsdowns' eyes and could see the look of prestige ringing off of them. She managed to hide her disdain, but she felt Elsa touch her arm and realized she probably wasn't hiding it that well. "We'll let you talk it over. Kira, can you help me touch up my make-up?"

"Of course, Elsa," she said quickly, joining her former principal in getting out of there. Once they were in the bathroom, Elsa looked at her.

"You're not good at hiding your emotions, are you?" She said gently and Kira shook her head. "I didn't think so."

"Sorry," she said and Elsa shook her head.

"No," she said. "It's fine. Anton and I are just used to working with Trent. We should have taken this into consideration."

"Seriously, is it a family trait?" She asked and Elsa shrugged.

"Does it matter?" She asked and Kira shook her head. "When you go back out there, try not to look at them closely. Just let Anton finish talking. You explained all of the benefits they can get out of the school. I explained just how well it would look for them. Anton can finish the deal.”

Anton was engaging with both of them when the women sat back down. Good to her word, Elsa was right about him handling it and sealing the deal. She reminded herself to bring them I if she had trouble like this again, though she'd also probably bring in Trent as well. Anton had clasped her shoulder and given her a reassuring smile and Elsa had just been emotional support for the rest of the time. Between them, Hayley, Tommy, her boys, and Charlie, she had the best family ever. Summer's parents would probably be furious later, but for now, she had her third student. For good or for worse.

***

With Summer there, it was quiet for the most part for about a month. She had to admit that she kind of wished she could get them all at once, but they'd found ways around the staggered arrival of students. They had tutor sessions to catch some of them up to get them ready with the others. Yet when the next child showed up, they were surprised to see that he was followed by a girl the same age. Considering that Cole had mentioned the boy, but not the girl, the staff had been confused. Cole had pulled her aside. "They're twins," he explained. "He wouldn't come without her."

"Is she a Ranger?" She asked, completely trusting Cole's judgment at this point and he looked a little wary.

"No," he said. "But she might be something else?"

Kira nodded. "Alright. We'll try to figure it out," she assured him and turned to the two children in front of her. It turned out that Dillon was extremely stand-offish while Tenaya was a little more outgoing if not shy. Kira was a little curious about Dillon because of this since she was pretty sure he wasn't a sixth Ranger. Then again, Taylor could be prickly too and she'd been a Yellow Ranger. She just hustled both of them into classes and hoped for the best. When Tori came in looking relieved, Kira just waited.

"We think Tenaya will be support for whatever team her brother is part of," she said. Kira relaxed at that. His sister could keep him under control and at least a little social. Having her as support would be a big help for everyone.

"That's a plus,” Kira said. She was hoping that they could have a teammate to pull Dillon in as well. She really should have been careful what she wished for.

***

No one had, as it were, brought in Ziggy. Cole hadn't vetted him, no one really invited him in to the school, and once they'd learned about him, it was understood that he wasn't allowed anywhere near Chip's class ever. Instead, Ziggy had wandered right through the barrier without even knowing it was there and ended up at the school. The magic that hid the school seemed to have no effect on him nor did he even realize it existed at first. He made sure to leave when the other kids had and no one had caught on to the fact that he shouldn't have been there, something that still annoyed Will who insisted that he should have caught him far before a week in.

Chip was the one who had figured it out when he found the kid trying to engage with Dillon who was put out that his sister was spending time with Summer than him. The fact that Ziggy was succeeding had first caught Chip's attention, but when he realized that Ziggy had traces of magic clinging to him, he went to Kira to ask why he hadn't enrolled in his class. It was then that they figured out what had happened.

"Two of you have super speed!" Kira snapped. "How did he get away?"

"Because we didn't know to get him until he was gone!" Conner answered. "Or that he was even an issue."

"We should probably make sure Will isn't the first to get there," Ronny added. "I think this really hurt his ego."

"Good," Kira muttered, her own pride shattered at the moment. She shouldn't be the only one upset. They made their way to where Tori had told them to go. The ninja had a hand on Will and put a finger to her lips as the group came up behind her. All of them could hear a less than quiet conversation.

"Just shut up and stay there," Dillon's annoyed voice rang out from behind one of the buildings. 

"But..."

"Security has super hearing. Now shut up," he growled. Will rolled his eyes, done with waiting. Before Tori could stop him, he called out.

"Security heard you five minutes ago," he snapped. "Get out here!"

The two boys did. Dillon just had his arms folded and didn't look apologetic at all. The other look contrite and even a little scared. Kira tried to get her ego under control so she didn't make it worse especially since Will wasn't doing a good job of looking nonthreatening at the moment. Kira sighed. "Dillon..."

"He's staying," Dillon said, folding his arms. Will folded his and stared back.

"You don't make that choice," he said.

"How did you even get in?" Conner finally asked, deciding to cut in before Will and Dillon got into a fight. Ziggy just looked at the ground.

"I walked in," he answered. Kira blinked.

"Walked in?" She asked. He shrugged.

"Yeah. The train thing went through and then I did," he said. Kira whipped her head around.

"Ronny! Conner! Find me any member of Mystic Force," she said before looking back at the kid. He didn't look as apologetic now and she wondered if he'd just looked the way he thought he was supposed to look. She made a note for the future that the kid might be a bit of a con artist, most likely for survival reasons. "What are you doing here?"

"I wanted to know what was going on and then everything looked interesting," he answered. "So, I stayed around to watch. Are you guys really training people to be Power Rangers?"

"Yes," Kira said. She didn't know what to make of this kid. Conner and Ronny had apparently found every member of Mystic Force they had and dragged them back. Chip looked pleased, Madison looked confused as there wasn't an injury, and Xander was just curious. She kept her attention on the kid. "I'm Headmistress Ford."

"I'm Ziggy," he answered. "So... can I stay here?"

"I'm not sure yet," she said. She turned to Chip. "Well?"

"Like I said," Chip said. "He has a little magical ability. I'm not sure how much but enough to see through the barrier. And it shouldn't have taken more than that. Still, I think we would have known if he was a threat."

Kira sighed and rubbed her temples. "Alright, Ziggy, here's the deal. You can stay here until Cole comes and we see what he thinks, okay?" She asked. She was going to call Cole since she was interested in what he'd say, but she knew that Ziggy would be staying. If he wasn't a threat, it only made sense that he was here for a reason and she wasn't going to go against that. This was more of a formality. It also would make Will feel better if Cole backed them up and not arguing with him would be worth waiting. Ziggy just nodded eagerly.

Cole later assured her that he should be there and she was right. He also seemed amused which worried her as to what she'd gotten into. Those worries were well justified later on when he helped Gem and Gemma cause trouble, goofed off in class, and just didn't seem able to focus. Kira found herself smiling however since he also dragged Dillon and Kay in with him. Scott, Summer, and Flynn seemed to get along with him well enough and he lightened the mood when things got tense. It had been decided that Chip's class was a little dangerous when they found that the little magic he could do seemed to be more for seeing through illusions. Otherwise, he was worse than Clare with magic in a way that Xander insisted was going to burn down the school. Chip had tried to disagree, but eventually agreed with his teammate. It was decided that Chip would quietly help him learn about illusions on the side so he could control his ability.

Kira stood back and watched. "I think we have our third team," she said to Tori. Tori snorted.

"And this one comes with the sixths already involved," she said with a sigh. "And possibly the tech. Don't worry, Kira. They'll probably be fine."

"They will," Kira said proudly. "We'll teach them to be."

Tori nodded and the two relaxed as they looked out, unknowing just how hard things were about to get for them.


	20. Chapter 19

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things go very wrong, friendships are strengthened, and hope is given.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For the record, I'm not trying to trash Operation Overdrive. I just feel that would of most of the seasons, they have the least amount of a bond. And I figured I'd address that.

Kira glanced over at her phone as it rang. She didn't recognize the number at all, but it had rang again when she ignored it the first time around. She scooped it up and put it to her ear, continuing to do the paperwork the job demanded of her. "Hello?" She asked.

"Headmistress Ford?" She heard on the other end and recognized Cruger's voice right away. She sat up quickly, ignoring the rest of the work she had to do.

"Commander Cruger," she said. "What can I do for you?"

He didn't call her. They hadn't needed to in the years that they'd been allies. "I'm outside of the school," he said. "I would like to talk to you."

"Will should be there," she said. "Let him know that I said it was fine to let you in."

He grunted and hung up, leaving her with her thoughts for the moment. Will would bring him here for her, but Cruger was at the school. That meant that something large was happening if he needed to see her in person to give her information. She moved the paperwork aside and waited. He headed in and Will stood in the doorway. Considering that Cruger didn't protest, she guessed he'd do the same if she was in his office. She also wasn't sure if she could remove her Head of Security even if she tried. She really needed to remind him that he was supposed to protect the school, not her... again.

"Welcome Commander Cruger," she said politely. Cruger sighed.

"It's not a social visit," he informed her and she nodded. "Headmistress, we heard about Grumm's activities in the Helix Nebula. I had A-Squad go and look into it."

Kira was pretty sure that her heart was stopping. She forced herself to pay attention. "And?"

"We lost contact with them. The last communication we had, they sounded overwhelmed," he said. She recognized that his voice was sympathetic. She tried to brace herself. "They're considered MIA."

Kira swallowed and looked at him. "But not dead?" She asked. He shook his head. "Commander Cruger, tell me the truth: What are the chances they aren't dead?"

Cruger was quiet for a minute. "We haven't found their bodies," he said. She had her answer.

"Please let me know if anything changes?" She hadn't meant for it to come out as a question, but she was just trying not to let her voice break.

"Of course," Commander Cruger answered.

"I'll let the appropriate teachers know," she said. He gave her a nod and put his paw on her hand.

"If there's anything we can do..." he said and she nodded.

"I'll let you know," she said. She swallowed. "This isn't your fault."

He seemed surprised by that, but nodded to her anyway as he took his leave. Part of her wanted to yell and scream at him, but she didn't. She was a Power Ranger and she knew the dangers therein. She also felt the same guilt he was feeling running through her on whether or not she'd done enough. She watched him leave out the window, keeping herself together until he was out of sight before she broke down at her desk. 

She felt an arm wrap around her shoulders and just sobbed into them. With Cruger gone and the children not allowed here without warning, it would have been another Ranger. Sure enough, when she pulled away, she was facing Will's sympathetic face. He was hiding his own feelings, of course, but he just sat with her for a minute. "I didn't call anyone," he said softly. "I wasn't sure who you needed."

"Thanks, Will," she said. She didn't want to have to explain this to the rest of the Rangers right now. Instead, she just looked at him. "Can you just stay here for a bit?"

"Sure," he said. "Don't want anyone else to know?"

She shook her head. "Let me pull myself together before I tell everyone else," she said. He didn't protest that she didn't need to and she realized that Will of all people had figured out that she had to be the leader right now. She was going to have to tell the others, but he was willing to help her take the time to herself first. Then he'd stand by her when she told the others. Will waited until she was sitting on the ground and joined her, letting her put his head on her shoulder.

"She might still be alive, Kira," Will reminded her. "She's a strong girl with a strong team."

"I know," Kira answered. "We did everything right?"

"We did," Will said. "They were ready to go. It's Sky's group we're worried about."

"Not making it better, Will," she said, though she was laughing a bit. She paused and looked at him. "You don't know what you're doing, do you?"

"I know what I'm doing. Now shut up while I'm being comforting," he said.

"When was the last time you had to be comforting?" She asked.

"Not important," he answered.

"So, never then?" She asked. He frowned at her.

"For someone who needs comfort, you are really pushing it," he informed her. She just grinned at him.

"Thought so," she said. "You could be doing worse."

"I'm five seconds away from going and getting Conner," he warned. She smiled, but didn't push it. The fact that he hadn't bothered to get up told her that he wasn't going to carry through on that. She waited a few minutes.

"Are you going to be okay?" She asked.

"She wasn't my kid," he said. Kira snorted.

"Like hell," Kira said "She took my name, but we all raised her. Just like Conner isn't an uncle, no matter what he seems to think."

Will was quiet for a minute before he spoke up again. "Mack came back," he said. "So Charlie will come back."

"That's what you're holding onto?" She asked gently.

"That's the truth," he answered. "It'll work out, Kira."

She just nodded and stayed there. If Will wanted to protest, he didn't. She found herself gripping onto his words, needing to believe that Charlie was alive. And while she might need to have that conversation with him that he was the school's security and not her bodyguard, she knew that she wouldn't be having it for a long while. Because right now, she needed the secuirty that he was providing.

***

Kira was glad that Will had found out when she did because when she had to tell the rest of the school, she felt terrible when she saw the looks of horror and grief on their faces. Tyzonn was the first to just ask to be excused which she quickly granted. She didn't know where he was going, but they could have asked her for anything right then. Madison completely broke down at the same time Chip did and, while he was trying to calm them, the look of despair on Xander's face was jarring. Camille and Jarrod were both just stone-faced, though there was a hint of shock in both of their eyes. They would have to tell the twins later. Casey just sat back and stared, heading over to Jarrod and Camille who just let him near them without a word. She knew that he'd help them through the grieving process and be there when they told Gem and Gemma. Dustin was sniffing next to Tori who had tears of her own in her eyes as she muttered reassurances that Kira knew she didn't feel. Justin just held his head and didn't say a word. 

Ronny and Conner were leaning against each other when Kira had spoken, both reeling from the news. After a minute, it seemed to click to Conner that the only reason Kira was standing was Will had position himself slightly behind her in case her knees buckled. He took Ronny's hand, the latter catching on to his thoughts, and both of them made their teammates. Kira reached for Conner's hand and both squeezed at the same time. Ronny just had a hand on Will's arm and he offered her a smile. Kira needed to try to make this better and she looked at the others.

"They might not be dead," she offered to those who were still there, though even she didn't quite believe it. "And Will reminded me that Mack came back."

"And Kendrix," Dustin put forward, still leaning against Tori who had her fingers in his hair. She was just playing with it and it seemed to calm both of them down. "So that's two!"

It seemed to cheer him up, but most of the others didn't look as convinced. Kira took a breath. "They're missing in action," she said firmly. "They aren't dead."

"What should I tell Cam?" Tori asked and Kira winced. The students were home for the day, a minor relief at the moment, but both knew that Kay would want to know about this.

"Tell him the truth," she said. "Let Cam decide what to say to Shane, Hunter, and Kay."

She nodded at that and Kira relaxed a bit. She still didn't feel it really, but she at least felt like she was in charge and not failing. She felt Conner squeeze her hand. "I'll tell our family,” he said gently.

"You don't..."

"You're the head of this school," Conner said forcefully. "But I'm the leader of our team."

"Thank you," she said quietly. She didn't want to have to tell them, but she wanted them there. Conner fortunately knew this. He looked at Will.

"I can't do this over the phone," he said. Will nodded.

"We'll take care of her," he promised but Ronny looked at Conner before making a decision.

"I'm coming with you," she said, not about to let him go alone right now. He looked ready to protest, but decided against it. Both knew that he was going to use Super Speed to get there anyway.

"Yeah, okay," he said. He looked between Will and Tori. "I'm counting on you."

"We know," Will said. "So get going."

With that, both Conner and Ronny were gone. Jarrod, Casey, and Camille excused themselves right after. Justin slipped out the door when no one was paying attention. The three Mystic Force Rangers mentioned that they needed to tell the rest of Briarwood and headed out. Only Tori, Dustin, Kira, and Will were left. Dustin moved over and pulled Kira down, putting his head against hers. Will and Tori each sat down next to them. Kira sighed. "Today sucks," she finally admitted. Dustin snickered as Tori rolled her eyes and Will grinned.

"Yeah it does," he agreed. Dustin nodded his head. Kira entwined her fingers with Dustin's and held him closer. Tori leaned in on the other side to do the same. Now that she was more certain he'd be okay, Kira could see that her second's eyes were starting to drift as she took it completely in. Will just stayed next to her, not touching her, but close enough that she could feel his presence. There was silence for a bit before Dustin spoke up.

"Can we find out?" He asked. They all turned and looked at him. "If they're dead."

Kira blinked. She wasn't sure, really, what the policy was on that. Zordon had let his Rangers know and said good-bye, but that didn't mean a young Ranger like Charlie could pull off the same. It was at this point that Kira remembered just how little they knew of the Power itself. "I'm not sure," she admitted.

"Would your mentor know?" Will asked and Kira snorted.

"I doubt it," she answered. "But we can get a hold of some of the older Rangers and see what they know."

Tori nodded. "We'll do that," she promised. Kira nodded back. She didn't say a word, but her mind went to the information her mentor had given her over the years and what she knew of Ranger history. Some of the older Rangers might know, but she had a feeling that there was someone else who might know as well. Unfortunately, she'd be vetoed if she tried so she kept quiet for the moment.

***

"Are you sure about this?" Will hissed. Kira was promptly ignoring the warning tone that came from her friend being way too overprotective. Tori and Dustin were asleep nearby, the former passing out when the latter fell asleep. If she needed them, she knew that they'd both be at her side in a second. Will, on the other hand, stupidly believed that he didn't need sleep and insisted on being involved. She was just glad that the time it took to drive from Reefside would take her family a bit to get from so that they couldn't talk her out of this. 

"It's the quickest way," she whispered back as they turned on the communicator. "You're with me. You're doing what Conner asked."

"I'm not just here because Conner is worried," he said. "I'm here because you waited for Tori to go to sleep which means she's disagree with you."

"It's fine," Kira said. She looked at Will. "I need to know."

"What happened to asking the older Rangers?" He asked and she closed her eyes.

"Will," she said. "I can't tell them right now."

He was about to protest when he recognized what she said and looked her over. It wasn't that she didn't want their help, but rather that she couldn't handle letting them know why right now. "Fine," he said. "If you promise not to be stupid and run off on your own."

"Are you volunteering to come with?" She challenged. He rolled his eyes.

"Wouldn't have said it if I wasn't," he answered.

"Deal," she said. "But you can't tell anyone."

"I'm a spy, Kira. I can keep a secret," he grumbled. She nodded and used the communicator. It took a minute, but eventually a rather human looking face looked back at her in surprise.

"I'm sorry," the man said. "Can I help you?"

She was surprised to see that he wasn't demanding where they got the number or even how they got there. She figured it was because if she had been a normal earthling, he didn't want to give away that he wasn't on Earth. "Zedd, right?" She asked politely. "I'm Headmistress Kira Ford of Rainbow Academy, Earth's Ranger school."

He paused for a minute and then nodded. "How can I help you, Headmistress?" He asked. "My wife's mentioned the school a couple of times. I'd be happy to be of some assistance."

"It's... a bit more personal than that," she admitted. He waited for her to continue. "One of the teams we taught went MIA. We don't know if they're still alive or dead and I thought maybe you'd know how to check."

He looked surprised at that. "Why haven't you tried the other Rangers?" He asked.

"I... It hurts," she admitted. She tried to find the words to continue, but they got caught in her throat. His expression softened.

"I see," he said. Kira noticed that Will wasn't thrilled that Zedd had read through that, but she was just happy she didn't have to explain. "The truth is, Headmistress, that we're not sure. Most Rangers are there when they lose a teammate. But, I think the answer is yes. We can tell."

She looked at him in surprise and he sighed, looking very uneasy. "There have been other teams where the mentors swore they could feel the loss of one of their Rangers. I can try to help you, but I can't make any promises."

"I'll take it," Kira said. "What do I need to do?"

"I take it you're avoiding my wife?" He asked in amusement and Kira looked at the ground before back at him.

"More like avoiding her Rangers," she said truthfully. "Mystic Force are the Blue Ranger's family. I don't want to give them false hope."

He nodded. "I understand," he said gently. "Then I'm going to have to ask for you to meet me in Angel Grove."

"Why there?" Will asked, staying right behind Kira.

"Because it's a magical hotspot," he answered. It made sense if for no other reason than Zordon had been there for years. "It will take me three days to get there."

"We'll be there," Kira said. That would give her enough time to be with her family before going with Will and seeing if Charlie was alive. She didn't want to involve anyone else with this. She knew it was a Red Ranger action like her mentor would have taken, but she couldn't get anyone else's hopes up. As the communicator died, she turned to Will. "I'm sure about this."

"I know," he said. The two of them looked at each other for a minute before he spoke again. "So, we'll let your family comfort you and take off after."

Kira nodded. "I don't want to get their hopes up," she admitted.

"At least you're telling someone. And taking someone with you," he answered. "I don't like it, but I understand it."

She nodded.

***

Tori and Dustin were waking up by the time Conner came back with Dino Thunder. Tori glanced at Conner. "We need to head back," she said and he nodded.

"Thank you," he answered. She nodded and took off soon after, ready to go and help Cam deal with Kay and Shane. Dustin was on her heels. Conner headed back over and pulled Kira to him. She leaned into the hug and smiled when she felt Ethan and Trent join him. None of them said a word, but she could feel the reassurance and love flowing off her first team.

When they finally all let go, she felt Tommy pull her into a firm hug. She let him be a bit too strong about it considering that he'd lost Charlie and she could only imagine that he was thinking about how he could have lost one of them as well when they'd been Rangers. "Are you okay, Doctor O?" She whispered quietly. He pulled away and looked at her.

"I should be asking you that," he said. She swallowed.

"She's missing in action," Kira said. "She's not dead."

"She's not dead," Tommy agreed. She wasn't sure if either of them believed it. Still, it was nice to hear even if she was going to try to figure it out for sure. Part of her almost broke, wanting to tell them, but she couldn't. They'd understand. Hayley was the next to get a hold of her, after pulling Tommy off. She looked at her and then pulled her into a hug.

"Whatever you're planning," Hayley whispered. "You know we'd support you."

"I know," she said. "I just..."

"Can't," Hayley said. Both of their voices were low, but Hayley managed to half laugh. "I've heard that too many times."

Kira winced at the insinuation. "I'm not going to the moon or planning things on a deserted island or using weird things to try to fix a problem," she said. "I'm just going to go talk to someone."

Hayley pulled away and looked at her before nodding. Her expression was that she didn't approve, but she wasn't going to push it. Kira had the feeling that Hayley would know everything in the morning. She moved out of the way and Elsa took Kira's hands. The two principals looked at each other for a minute before Kira pulled Elsa to her. "We'll find her," Elsa whispered. Kira just nodded. She turned around and nearly tripped over Anton who looked a little embarrassed when she pulled him into the hug between Elsa and her.

"We're here," Anton said quietly. She nodded. She was surrounded by her family. Even with all of the things she intended to do on the horizon, she was just glad to have them near her for now. She only hoped that the everything would turn out for the best.

***

Sure enough, Hayley was in her office the next day, hands on her hips. Kira glanced behind her and was pleased not to see anyone. "Your bodyguard is running interference," Hayley said, shutting the door.

"He's my head of security," Kira corrected and Hayley rolled her eyes.

"Call it whatever you want," Hayley said. "He figured out that I knew and distracted the others."

Kira reminded herself to give Will a high-five later. 

"Kira," Hayley started in. "This isn't a good idea. Asking the other Rangers, fine, but asking Tommy's former archnemesis? That's another story."

"He's the quickest answer," Kira said, not bothering to remind Hayley that both Zedd and Rita were reformed and the latter was connected with a Ranger team. "Hayley, I need to know. If I can find a way to do that, I'm going to because I have to run this damned school and I can't keep focused on if she's de... on if she's coming back or not."

Hayley looked surprised at that. "I didn't..."

"I know," Kira said. "You're worried. Doctor O is worried. My team is worried. My staff is worried. And I'm going to have to pretend like everything is fine because if I don't, then I'm going to end up making a mistake with the group be have now. I'm going to have to pull back Xander, Chip, and Madison from Briarwood and remind them that I need their help teaching and healing. I'm going to have to track down Tyzonn and remind him he has a job. I have to tell Jarrod and Camille that I know the twins are hurting, but can they please make sure they're going to class and teach the classes they agreed to. I have to push Casey. I have to encourage Dustin to keep going and remind Tori that I need her to push him and everyone else. I have to get Ronny to drive the bus and not think about the kids that she drove back and forth are possibly gone. Including the one that she helped me raise. I have to do all of this while I'm trying to deal with Charlie being... not knowing where she is."

Hayley pulled Kira to her and sighed. "I still don't agree with you," she said. "But I'm guessing Will is going with you at least."

"He is," she said. She gave a small smile. "He told me not to do it alone."

"Good," she said. "Why can't you take Conner?"

"Have you seen Conner?" Kira asked. "His heart is broken and he's allowed to show it right now. I didn't tell anyone because we don't know what they answer is going to be. How can I get his hopes up and then dash them again?"

"Can't he make that choice?" Hayley asked and Kira sighed.

"I need him here," she admitted. "I need him and Tori for when I get back."

Hayley nodded. "Okay."

"Just okay? That's it?" Kira asked and Hayley snorted.

"The other three are right," she said. "You are becoming more and more like a mix of Tommy and Elsa."

"Hey!"

"And I didn't stop Tommy from the Moon Mission, so I won't stop you here. If the others are to be believed, then Zedd should be safe. Mystic Force adore Rita. Karone is a Ranger now. While I haven't heard about Divatox in a while, I take it as a good thing since she's not causing trouble. I have to hope that Zedd is as good as we think," she said. "Tommy told me that he trusted Zordon more than anyone else. I have to too."

"Thanks, Hayley," she said. "If it looks like I trap, I'll call for help."

"Good," she answered. "And when you have an answer?"

"I'll come back, let them all yell at me, and let everyone know what it is," she promised. Hayley nodded.

“I won't say anything until you've gotten a head start,” she promised. “But then I'm going to have to in case something goes wrong.”

"Thanks, Hayley,” she said. “You won't regret it.”

"I've heard that before," Hayley said deadpan. "Come back safe."

"I will."

***

Hayley didn't outwardly help her, but getting away from the Dino Thunder Rangers, her mentor, and the two former villains that were part of the family was easier than she'd thought it would be. She was glad that she had a window of time open before Tori got back because it would have been a lot harder to keep it from Tori. Possibly as impossible as it had been to keep it from Hayley.

Will joined her and they headed toward Angel Grove. She didn't think it was going to take that long once they were there, but she was grateful that Hayley was giving her the head start. "So," Will said as he sat next to her. "How angry do you think everyone is going to be?"

"Very," she answered. He was quiet for a minute.

“Mack once decided he wasn't as important because he was a robot,” he said casually. “I let him have it. Do you think they'll be that mad?”

Kira was quiet for a minute. “How often do you talk to your team?” She asked.

“Once, maybe twice a month?” He answered.

“Conner and I check in with Doctor O about once a week. When I wake up, I have an email frm Ethan to catch me up on things and Trent texts me at least once a day to cheer me on. Hayley sends various food that she knows Conner and I like. I rant with Elsa over students and staff. And it seems that before I even knew something needed replaced or fixed, it's already done because Anton hear about it. And Conner, I don't think I could function without Conner,” she answered. “So my answer is, they'll probably be even angrier than that.”

He nodded, not really insulted. It was a known fact that Operation Overdrive was the only tem who hadn't bonded in the same way. They were friends and cared about each other, of course, but they had their own lives. Will especially had needed to learn about teamwork, something that was a continued lesson when he'd gotten here. Dino Thunder were insane, but they were close to each other. Instead of answering her, however, he just pointed. "I think it's here."

She nodded and got out of the car as he followed. She was glad that it was on the outskirts of the city and not too close to the ruined Command Center. She didn't have an direct connection like her mentor did, but it still would have felt wrong. Zedd was waiting for them, standing patiently. He nodded to them both as he walked over. "Headmistress Ford," he said with a polite nod. He looked at Will.

"Head of Security, Will Astin," she introduced him.

"It's a pleasure," Zedd said, though his attention was more on Kira and Kira knew that he knew who she was. "Rita mentioned that Tommy had made his own team. I didn't expect any of them to call me."

"He doesn't know I'm here," Kira admitted and Zedd laughed.

"I was guessing not or he'd be here threatening me," he said in amusement. "As it is, I'm surprised that you're trusting me."

"I need to know," Kira admitted. Zedd nodded. She paused for a minute. "Is it true that Thrax was your son?"

Zedd paused for a moment, trying to see if he recognized the name. After a minute, he gave a small smile. "Ah," he said. "That one. I suppose it's true, in a way. Rita and I were used to create him. But not in the way you're thinking. Even Rita and I had our superiors at one point and they were very good with DNA."

She nodded. "Okay," she answered. Will's expression went from surprise, to fury, and acceptance with the answer. With that behind her, she looked firmly at him. "How does this work?"

"Why did it need to be in person?" Will added.

"Because I need someone close to the Ranger you're looking for," he said. "Otherwise, it won't work. I'm reaching out to my own friend who will know the answer and using Headmistress Ford's energy, I'll see if I find hers through him."

Kira nodded and Zedd reached out. She felt a little funny, similar to when she got her powers and she found Will steadying her quietly. The magic coursed through her. Will was watching Zedd like a hawk, but the man was just as unbalanced as she was. After a minute, Zedd opened his eyes. "She wasn't there," he said. Kira's expression turned to excitement. Zedd held up a hand. "It's a good sign, but there are other alternatives."

"And yet..." Kira said. "It's better than her definitely being gone."

"If she did die," Zedd said. "She hasn't joined with the Power yet."

"Thank you," she said. "I know it's not definite but..."

"You feel as if believing she's alive isn't just coping mechanism?" Zedd asked and she nodded. "I understand."

"My mentor and the rest of my team is probably on the way and I'm not sure what kind of mood they're going to be in," Kira said diplomatically.

"A bad one," Will said, never being one for diplomacy. She gave him a look before looking back at Zedd.

"I appreciate it," she said. "But how did you know how to do it?"

"I mentioned my old friend," Zedd answered. "I needed to know he was gone."

"I'm sorry," Kira said honestly. "Were you close?"

"When we were younger," Zedd answered. "But it's hard to be friends when you're on opposite sides and trying to destroy each other. Give my regards to Tommy."

"I will," she said. He turned and was gone before she could blink. Both of them stood there for a minute in surprise before Will looked at her.

"Did he just pretty much say that your mentor's mentor and he were friends?" Will asked and she nodded. "Did we know that before?"

"No," she said. "But it makes sense for why Zordon turned him good."

"I am really appreciating that my mentor was human right now," he said. She laughed.

"I'd say the same, but he was Doctor O's mentor so..." She said. He looked at her seriously.

"You feel better?" He asked. She nodded before paling a bit.

"I think so," she said. "It's just occurring to me just that this was a bad plan and how it could have gone wrong."

"You're back," he said with a sense of relief. She rolled her eyes and nudged him before giving him a stern look.

"You know," she said, deciding to ignore the fact that she'd done something stupid for now. "You're Head of School Security. Not 'Headmistress' Kira's personal security'."

"I consider it all the same," he said. "You keep the school running. Tori does fine when you're gone, but like you told Hayley, you know what needs to happen. Meaning, I need to keep you alive so the school doesn't implode."

She laughed. "I think it would be fine," she said and he snorted.

"I don't," he answered. She just smiled.

***

To say that Dino Thunder was furious was an understatement. To say that her mentor was outraged was really underselling the amount of fury he could have. The smug look on Hayley's face wasn't helping at all. What she hadn't been expecting was that Will didn't ditch, but just stayed out of the way. He wasn't interfering, but he wasn't leaving her to the wolves either.

"What made you think this was a good idea?!" Tommy roared. She didn't know he could do that and she was equally impressed with her ability not to back down when he did it. She understood why he was upset, but she also founds it a bit hypocritical considering it was him. She just knew better than to bring that up right this second. Especially with the rest of her family on his side.

"The part where I needed to know," she answered. "Now I know."

"You could have said something," Conner said. He sounded madder than she would have thought. Once she was in her right mind again, she'd been worried about how hurt he'd feel. This was better than that.

"I didn't want to get your hopes up," she said. "I didn't really even want to get my hopes up, but I needed to know."

"Zedd might be good now, but how did you know that he was still safe? What if Zordon's cure wore off? What if he would have killed you?!" Tommy continued. Kira was mostly ignoring him. She knew he was worried, but his ranting wasn't helping anything and was quite frankly a little insulting to her intelligence.

"You could have left a note," Trent said quietly. She sighed.

"I was trying to give myself so time," she said. Will had finally had enough.

"She wasn't in her right mind," he said. Kira looked ready to kill him, but he joined her side anyway. She wondered if she could get away with Pterascreaming everyone in the room just to make them stop. Unfortunately, Hayley was just looking smug, but hadn't said a word and both of the Mercers were just looking a little disappointed. She didn't really want them in the crossfire. "Grief."

Even she looked at him in confusion. "Grief?" Ethan asked. Will nodded once and looked at her.

"When you were done, what were you thinking?" He asked.

"That I should have been more careful," she answered with a slight sigh, hating that he was right.

He smirked. "She was dealing with grief so she wasn't thinking ahead. So, I know you guys have this weird Team is Family is Everything mentality, but calm down and make sure she's okay. Then get over it."

Everyone just stared at him for a minute as Kira did too. With the yelling quieted, he headed away from the group for a bit to let them settle it. At least, he would have if Trent hadn't grabbed his arm. "We may need you," he whispered. Will paused.

"You can't handle it?" He asked. Trent rolled his eyes.

"Conner may be clinging to her right now, but in a minute, he'll remember he's mad at Kira. Which will start a fight and Ethan will take Conner's side because he's upset and then the rest of the family will get involved," Trent answered. "And you managed to shut them up for a few minutes. You're needed."

Will made a face, but stayed anyway. Sure enough, Conner pulled away, realizing that he was supposed to be upset. Ethan backed him up. Tommy didn't stop them, so Hayley tried to split them up with Elsa's help while Anton reminded Tommy that he was the mentor whether he liked it or not and should be doing his job. Tommy was trying to argue that they were all grown up and he didn't have to anymore. Will looked at Trent.

"You have to be kidding," he grumbled and Trent shook his head, motioning with his hand for Will to fix it. Will made his way through, whispering something to Conner which made him turn on Ethan. Hayley and Elsa shot him a look before trying to tear them apart from each other even though it remained verbal. Will looked at Kira. "Go back to the school. I'll drag Conner back."

She looked at him for a minute and then nodded, grabbing Trent on her way out. With those two out of the way, he looked at the others. He waited a minute before concentrating on Tommy and Anton. "You didn't notice two of them are gone?" He asked. He made sure to say it loud enough that the other four looked over as well. Conner glared at him.

"You tricked me!" He exclaimed.

"I've heard you had a bad temper. Never seen it though," he admitted. As Conner's anger started to fall, Ethan's faded as well. "Look, she did something wrong. You're not happy about it. But it's done. And you're missing the important part: Charlie might be alive."

Conner's expression immediately shifted as did Ethan's as both of them went from fighting to cheering. Will noticed that Tommy's anger was still there, but it was starting to look sheepish. Elsa and Hayley both just looked ready to kill everyone if they started to fight again, but both gave a thankful nod in his direction. Will looked at Conner. "I promised Kira I'd drag you back to the school, but I figure everyone is coming anyway."

They all nodded and pulled themselves back together. WIll looked at Tommy. "Trent went with her. He saw all of this coming," he said. Tommy blinked and Hayley smirked. 

"And he told you?" She asked. Will nodded. "Well played, Trent."

Will looked a little confused, but figured it was a Dino Thunder thing. He just led them back to the school so they could figure out what to do next and possibly finish dealing with this. He'd be glad went the rest of the school got back. He wasn't sure he could handle this team on his own.

***

It was quiet after that. Dino Thunder eventually left which he was grateful for. Dealing with Conner and Kira was one thing, but dealing with the whole lot of them was complete chaos. He was also grateful that Tori was the first one back and was checking up on Kira. She had also chewed out Kira for racing off which meant that Conner started back in and Will had to defend her. Ronny joined his side while Madison was firmly on Tori's. He didn't see what the big deal was and neither did his teammate who just shrugged.

The teachers came back and took up their classes again and everything continued as before. Kira was constantly waiting for updates, but after the second month, she gave up for the time being. She assured him that she was certain the Power would take care of it. Conner agreed with her. Will headed to Tori. "I don't get them," he admitted. "I don't get you or Madison either, but I don't get Kira and Conner."

"What happened this time?" She asked with a slight smile.

"They're insistent that the Power is watching over Charlie. Kira completely calmed down when she finished talking to her mentor's former enemy. Plus, all of them showed up in Angel Grove and were upset and she didn't act like it was a huge thing," he said. Tori laughed.

"I headed back to the Ninja Academy," she reminded him. "It's a team thing, Will."

Will was just quiet for a minute. "Oh," he said and Tori paused.

"You guys don't have that?" She asked. He shrugged.

"We're friends," he answered. Tori looked toward the Headmistress' office and then back to Will.

"Did you tell that to Dino Thunder?" She asked.

"Sorta," he said. "I told them that they had a weird Team is Family is Everything deal and to work it out. They wouldn't stop arguing."

Tori was quiet for a minute before looking at him curiously. “And they involved you?” She asked. He nodded as she smirked. "Oh Will. I am so sorry."

"About what?" He asked.

"You'll figure it out," she said. "Don't worry about Conner and Kira. They were trained by Tommy and he taught them the way he was trained."

Will nodded, but he still wasn't sure what she meant by that. As it was, he decided it was just one of those things that he didn't understand right now. He sighed. "At least Ronny doesn't get it either."

Tori patted his shoulder. For a moment, she felt bad for Operation Overdrive and knew that she'd probably end up letting the rest of the Power Ranger Family know. No one left behind after all and they hadn't done the best job encouraging that with this team. She was also very glad that they'd opened the school because it was important that having your team as a second family wasn't just something that was glossed over or ignored, but celebrated and encouraged. They were busy for now, but in the future, she'd make sure that Operation Overdrive both understood that as a team and was more included as a whole into the family.

For now, they were just hanging on. They were teaching and pulling themselves together. If Charlie and her team were holding on and waiting for them, she knew that they needed to keep themselves together to help them. And be the school that would make their first team proud.


	21. Chapter 20

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Helping B-Squad throughout the year.

After dealing with Sky, Bridge, and Syd, not to mention Charlie and her team, the newest team was a lot easier which was reason to be thankful since it was a harder year. Fortunately, none of them needed mentors like the other teams had. This meant that everyone was more able to focus on other things. Lucky as it was, Kira would have been happy for a distraction most of the time. For all that Kira did believe that Charlie and the others were alive, she was less convinced that she shouldn't go and find them herself. The others were in the same boat and Tori had had to play the bad guy more than once. She threw herself in a chair and grabbed Conner's wrist. He blinked.

"You can't leave either," she snapped. Conner just nodded and patted her hand where her death grip remained.

"I wasn't planning on it," he assured her. "What do I know about space?"

She blinked. "I thought you'd be the first one out the door since, uh..."

"Since I'm a Red?" He asked in amusement and rolled his eyes. "I'm a Red who has had to keep my Yellow from racing out the door. Sure, I want to know where she is too, but you know what I like to think? Team Cohesion is keeping them alive right now. Charlie is keeping them together. Blue is planning things out. Mat is trying to get them help and food. Tyson is fighting off whatever comes his way. And Yuki is keeping Charlie from doing every stupid idea that comes to her head. And now we have another group. If I don't teach them and they get lost, then we might actually lose a team."

"That's oddly sensible for you," she said. He just grinned at her.

"I've had to repeat it to Kira over and over," he said. "It gets smarter sounding every time."

"How did it sound the first time?" She asked.

"I did awesome and we have to teach everyone and you're the headmistress so we can't go into space," he answered. Tori just laughed. "Yeah, that was Will's reaction too."

Tori sighed. "I feel like I'm just trying to keep everything together on a sinking boat. Every time a plug up a hole, another one shows up," she admitted. Conner looked at her and then at the school.

"That's it," he said and Tori's eyes widened.

"You have that look," she said.

"What look?" He asked.

"The one that every Dino Thunder member told me to watch out for because it means you have a terrible idea," she answered. Conner snorted.

"It's a good idea," he said.

"Run it by me, Conner," she said. Before he could admit what it was, both of them heard the computer's communicator chime. Tori sighed. "I'll get it."

Conner nodded, but he didn't run off. Bridge was on the other side, looking a little nervous. "We got our morphers..." he got out and Tori winced.

"Sky?" She asked. He nodded. "I'll let the Headmistress and Mr. Brooks know."

Bridge looked relieved and got off quickly. Tori didn't blame him. She wouldn't have wanted Sky to know either if she was the one calling. Tori looked at Conner. He shrugged. "I'll let Kira know," he offered.

"I'll go get Dustin," she agreed.

***

It was unusual that the Headmistress needed to handle things personally. It was even more unusual that she would go to another place to deal with a student that wasn't hers anymore. Yet, this time, they'd all seen it coming. Conner had offered to come, but Kira had shook her head. Dustin could handle Sky and she was there to agree with her teacher. If anyone else showed up, he'd just feel outnumbered. Everyone had been waiting for this. Well, everyone in the know. All of the teachers knew that Kira, Xander, and Tori had met Bridge to various degrees. Will and Ronny had been there and met him as well, but it had been fleeting. They hadn't built the same relationship they had with Kira, Xander, Tori, and even Adam. It just wasn't feasible with Bridge being in the future. Conner and Dustin knew details, of course, since they were best friends with Kira and Tori respectively. Madison had been informed by Xander who'd also told Chip, which helped her be prepared for Bridge's powers. The others didn't know a lot about it and Kira felt the need to keep it that way.

She'd pulled in Trip when it got too bad for Bridge, of course, but she was trying to work with the timeline and not destroy it. She still held that the reason they all hadn't been visited by Wes and Eric was because they trusted their younger comrades to not screw up. She didn't feel like testing that theory right now so they hadn't given heavy details to anyone else. What that did mean was they'd known that Sky wasn't going to be a Red even if the rest of the teachers had all doubted he would anyway. Now that it had come to pass, it meant that they needed to do something about it and Kira wasn't looking forward to this visit.

She called Cruger ahead of time. He hadn't known what the big deal was, but he also was fine with Dustin and her coming to talk to Sky. She was very happy that they'd decided to be allies so long ago. It meant that she didn't have to explain as much to someone who wasn't really interested. She was also pretty sure that he still felt bad about losing A-Squad which she'd told him wasn't his fault, but she knew as well as any Ranger that feelings of guilt didn't just fade. So, when they found Sky waiting for them, she was feeling especially grateful to the Sirian. She kept standing as Dustin sat down next to Sky.

Sky slammed the morpher down in front of Dustin. "It looks nice, dude," Dustin said. "But, uh, Cam would know how it like works and stuff. I just know that you yell a phrase and get your uniform."

"It's blue," Sky snapped. Dustin's eyes lit up.

"It's like your name, dude!" Dustin said. "Skies are blue, you're blue! And blues are awesome. Tori is Blue and she can be really scary."

"I'm telling Tori," Kira said in amusement. Dustin turned to her with a pleading look on his face and she gave him a reassuring smile that she was teasing. She didn't know how Tori managed to keep Dustin in line. Every time she had to yell at him, she felt like she'd kicked a litter of puppies.

"I'm supposed to be red!" Sky growled and Dustin sighed.

"No," he said. "You're supposed to be Blue, dude. Just like Kira and I are Yellow. We've been through this: Every color matters."

"Name one member of my dad's team," Sky said. Dustin blinked. "You can't, can you? Because the Red Ranger was the only one worth writing about!"

Kira's blood ran cold. "Sky," she said gently. "What happened to the other Rangers on your dad's team?"

Sky looked at the ground, his hands clenched and they could see the beginning of the shield starting to form. "I don't know," he said. "I asked when I was a kid, but no one told me. All I know is, you never hear about them!"

Kira looked pensive at that. She was already running through various answers. Dustin was focusing on Sky. "We'll find out," Dustin said firmly. "But, dude, you're a Blue Ranger and you totally matter. We'll see why they didn't show up."

Sky looked dubious, but nodded anyway. "Mom's not happy," he admitted. “She wanted me to be Red.”

"Your mom isn't a Power Ranger," Dustin reminded him. Sky didn't look happy, but at least he wasn't lashing out anymore. Kira inwardly sighed. There was nothing that she could do for Sky when it came to his parents, though she was considering finding a way to drag the dead back from the Power so Ranger Tate could tell his son that he loved him no matter what. Maybe Chip knew a spell. She wasn't allowed to use the communicator without Conner or Tori Supervision since the Zedd incident which she had thought was a joke until she tried and found out that Ethan set up a program. Stupid effectual, overprotective team.

"Sky," she said. "We will find out what happened, but you're a Power Ranger. Even if you're not the color you wanted, that doesn't mean you aren't one."

Sky looked at her. "Were you happy Charlie was Red instead of Yellow?" He asked. Kira froze a bit and Dustin groaned.

"Dude, not cool," he said. "Kira..."

She cut him off, pulling herself together. "I wished she could have been any color but Red. Conner was proud, of course, but I'd rather she been any other core color."

"Why?" Sky asked and Kira smiled softly. 

"Because everything always aims for the Red," she answered. "We'll be back when we have a lead."

Dustin nodded and leaned into Sky. "We'll find out," he agreed. "But getting her upset isn't going to help, dude. Try to be nice, okay?"

He didn't wait for the response, but followed Kira out the door. He was really impressed that she managed to be out of SPD before the tears came. He was even more amazed when she shrugged them off and got them back to the school. He wasn't surprised, however, when she locked herself in her office.

***

Kira had been good to her word. The first thing she did when she pulled herself together was call Cassidy. The blonde grinned at her. "Hey Kira! How's it going with the school thing?"

Kira sighed. "Ethan really wasn't supposed to tell you that," she said.

"I guessed by his 'Don't tell Kira I told...' starter," she said. "No worries. I've known for years and I won't say a word. So, what's the Headmistress of Rainbow Academy need my help for? Other than advice with choosing names because 'Rainbow Academy'? Really?"

Kira rolled her eyes. "Focus, Cassidy," she said sternly. Truth be told, she'd missed the other woman. Ethan did the best job keeping up with her, but every so often Kira and she had drinks and talked. It had never been about the school or Rangering, but rather how Devin was doing or Kira's Boys as Cassidy enjoyed calling them. "Several years ago, there was the death of a Red Ranger."

"Gregory Tate," Cassidy said. "I remember. I helped cover it."

Kira blinked. "What happened to the rest of the team?"

"Well," Cassidy said. "They took down the monster and saved the day, I guess. I wasn't told to look into them."

"I'm asking you to," Kira said. "I have a new Ranger who can't deal with his color because of it."

"Let me guess," she said. "Schulyer Tate?"

Kira sighed. "Ethan again?"

"Trent."

"Of course," Kira said. "And yes, Sky."

"I'll see what I can find out for you. If anyone can find anything, it's me," Cassidy said. "But you'll be the first to know. Say hi to Conner for me!"

"I will," Kira said. "And thanks!"

It took a little less than a month for Cassidy to get back to her and when she did, Kira's friend didn't sound nearly as chipper. "This team was a trainwreck," she admitted. "I'm figuring out why they didn't get covered in the news."

"Power Rangers don't hurt people..." Kira started.

"No, no! Nothing like that!" She promised. "It's just... look, Kira, I think I know why they didn't tell Sky."

"Continue," Kira said.

"So, aside from Gregory Tate, there were four other team members. Same colors as the rest of SPD: Red, Blue, Yellow, Pink, and Green. Look, is there anyway we can do this somewhere in person? Like a bar? A bar that has really good tequila?"

Kira winced. "No bars," she said. "But I'll send Ronny to come get you."

"The school?" Cassidy asked in surprise.

"We were going to call you in if we needed a Secret Keeper guest speaker anyway," Kira said.

"Kira, I'm so honored!" Cassidy said. "It almost makes up for you having me lose my soul looking into this!"

Kira rolled her eyes. "I'll see you in a few."

Kira was waiting for her when she stumbled off the bus. Cassidy just looked at her. "That was intense."

"That was Ronny," Kira said with a grin. She led her up the stairs and into her office. Cassidy leaned into it and sighed, rubbing her eyes.

"So, the Blue Ranger," Cassidy said, leaving pleasantries by the wayside. "Was a woman named Jo Chafin. She was smart, steady, and had Tate's back. She was severely injured during the battle and the final blow threw her into a coma. Apparently, being on the edge of death, not being in uniform, and using the big weapon you all have can do some serious damage. She's still in the coma.

"The Green Ranger was a man named Reese Jameson. He just couldn't handle everything that happened. He just isolated himself. He wasn't married, two of his friends were practically dead, and he just didn't cope. He went AWOL about a month after everything happened. They found him dead a week later."

"He destroyed himself?" Kira asked in surprise and Cassidy rolled her eyes.

"I've been saying forever you all need counseling," she said. "But at least you have each other. He didn't feel like he had anyone."

"What about the Yellow and Pink Rangers?" She asked. Cassidy sighed.

"Seriously, we should have done this at a bar," she sighed, trying to stall. Kira motioned for her to continue and Cassidy reluctantly did. "Pink, Megan Wright went insane. I mean, completely lost it insane and is in a facility. She just snapped. She's less of a threat to others and more unable to care for herself. I got the information if you want to go see her."

"Thank you," Kira said. "And the Yellow?"

"Amber Underwood," Cassidy said. "From what I read, since all of her teammates were either breaking down or unable to do it, she's the one who first tried to interview Mirloc. She handled it, managed to get through it without breaking down, but wasn't able to get anything from him. After Reese went missing, she checked on Megan and was the one to get her into the asylum. It was the last thing she did before getting transferred off Earth."

"Do you know where she went?" Kira asked and Cassidy shook her head.

"I even had Ethan do his computer thing and look for me," she said. Kira sighed, just grateful they hadn't gotten caught. "But apparently, it's well-hidden."

"Thank you," Kira said, leaning back in her chair. "It's a lot to take in."

"Like I said, tequila," Cassidy said. She stood up and looked back at Kira. "I'm sorry about your daughter."

"She's alive," Kira said. "We just need to find her."

Cassidy sat back down. "I was all set to agree with you. Race into the unknown! It's what I'd have done," she said. Kira looked at her in confusion.

"But...?" Kira asked and Cassidy sighed.

"Look around, Kira," she said. "I knew you were in charge of a school, but you're not just keeping it together. You've made it amazing and it's still standing!"

"I'm kind of worried that your standards are 'kept together' and 'not a pile of rocks'," Kira said sardonically.

"Don't be ridiculous," Cassidy said. "You built it out of more than rocks. I expected debris!"

"Thanks, Cassidy," Kira said, not meaning it nearly as much. Cassidy just smiled at her.

"I've met Power Rangers," she reminded her. "I know what I'm saying is high praise. But if you leave, it might fall apart."

Kira sighed. "So you're on Conner's side."

"I'm on the 'let's not screw over the kids in front of you for the kids who can take care of themselves' side," she answered. "You taught them, right? They'll be fine! You guys were fine. Even Trent. Most days."

"Cassidy..." Kira said, rubbing her temples. "Fine. I won't just run off. I'll deal with it. And we can hope that Charlie comes home."

"You can't tell me that none of the other Rangers are out looking for her just because you're stuck here," Cassidy said. Kira blinked. Cassidy burst out laughing. "You did think that, didn't you?"

"Cassidy!" Kira said and her friend rolled her eyes.

"Between Ethan and Trent doing what they can, you don't think that Doctor Oliver didn't put out a call to the others? Ethan told me about it. He's calling in every favor he can think of and asking for several more to find her. And that's just three Power Rangers. The others are probably helping too. Did you switch brains with Conner?" She asked. Kira sighed.

"No," she said. "You never tell the boys what I'm about to tell you."

"You've got it," Cassidy said, turning completely serious again.

"When it comes to Charlie, I get a little Red," she said and Cassidy paused.

"Weren't you Yellow?" She asked and Kira groaned.

"That's why I asked you not to tell anyone. Want to know something worse? Conner's started taking my place in the hierarchy," she said. Cassidy blinked.

"Our Conner?" She asked. "The person who had to stand next to me for 'Most Tactless' in the yearbook?"

"Yep," she answered.

"Wow," Cassidy said. "That's kind of impressive, Kira. Look, I know you're upset about Charlie and you're worried about all of them as well as your second group, but it'll work out."

"How can you be so sure?" Kira asked and Cassidy grinned.

"Because Power Rangers don't lose," she answered. "I need to head out. But if you need someone to slam some sense into you, you have my number. Or Devin's."

"How is Devin?" She asked and Cassidy grinned.

"Being the best camera man I could ask for. It took a little bit, but I managed to get our contracts linked," she said. "So, if you need me, he can let you know when I'm available."

"Thanks, Cassidy," Kira said. "It was good to see you."

"After Charlie gets back, we really need to do this again," Cassidy said. "Only without the mind-numbing horrible info and way more relaxing."

"I'll make sure to call," Kira promised. As Cassidy left, Kira was left feeling a little better about needing to stay, a lot worse about what she was going to have to tell Sky, and a little nervous on how to pull everything together.

***

There were arguments over who would go talk to Syd after her mind was taken over. At least, there were the beginnings of such because Conner left in the middle of them. He was going to take care of it, experience or not. He was sure there would be Red Ranger jokes that he would counter with "I taught her and she needed someone now" responses. That should show them. He had no idea what he was going to do other that just let her talk, but he needed to do something. They let him into the base pretty easily and he greeted several former students as he moved.

"Mr. McKnight?" He looked over to see Sky looking at him in surprise, next to Bridge and a boy he didn't know.

"Hey Sky! Where's Syd?" He asked. Sky looked a little relieved and Conner grinned. "Didn't come here for you this time. Don't worry. I just need to check on her."

"She called?" Bridge asked hopefully and Conner nodded. Sky motioned to a room behind them and Conner moved past, ignoring the unknown boy's questions. Syd was next to a girl he didn't recognize either. He was thinking he should probably get more information from Kira later, but Syd's eyes lit up when she saw him.

"Mr. McKnight!" She exclaimed, heading toward him before stopping herself. He made it a point to hide the wince that was threatening to breach. Kira had done the same years ago, winced at their touch. And Trent had forced himself to deal with the others touching him until they figured out what was going on. It wasn't unsurprising that Syd would do the same.

"Hi Syd! How's one of my favorite Pinks?" He asked instead, leaving himself open to her without getting in her space. The other girl looked confused.

"Do you know him, Syd?" She asked and Conner was pleased to see that there was a sense of protectiveness there. That's what he wanted to see from other Rangers, even Rangers he hadn't been fortunate enough to teach.

Syd just nodded. "He's safe, Z. I... I just..."

Conner sat down to make himself smaller. "Why don't you tell me what happened?" He asked. As she did, he was impressed by the way he managed to not look panicked. He did probably still look like he was ready to find this creep and destroy him, but beggars couldn't be choosers.

"Got it," he said. He rubbed his temples. "You know, when Trent first started to talk about it, we didn't know what to do for him either. So we used to just camp out in Doctor O's living room."

"You did?" She asked. She looked a little confused. "Headmistress Ford doesn't seem like someone who'd enjoy that."

"That's because you know Grown Up Kira," he said. "I knew 'Rocker Kira who was totally awesome and fun and didn't need reasons for why we should totally camp out'. Look, I'm not saying that you and your team have to, but that it might help if you're all together tonight. We did the same for Kira."

"Headmistress Ford went through this?" She asked quietly.

"Yeah," he said. "I know that Dustin goes over those who went evil a bit more because it's a general overview, but it's really painful to watch a former evil Ranger or one that had their free will taken away deal with the aftermath. There should also be rules until you know you're okay. Like no one should sneak up on you or try to wake you up."

Z looked over. "You know a lot about this."

"Well, it's kind of my job. So, here's what you're going to do: Support her, don't push her, let her talk, and get her some comfort things," he instructed. Z just nodded, though she looked surprised by how quick he did it. He looked back at Syd. "You're going to be okay. I'll stay as long as you need."

"Won't Headmistress Ford be mad that you're gone?" Syd asked and Conner shook his head.

"She'll understand," he assured her. "Right after she figures out I left."

"You just left?!" Syd asked and Conner rolled his eyes.

"You needed me," he said. "Trust me. We understand that."

Syd just nodded. Conner stayed and helped the others organize until he was certain she was okay with him leaving. He made her promise to call him if she needed him and slipped out of the base. He headed back and went straight to Kira's office, knocking as he did so.

"Do you remember the Red talk we had?" She asked. "The one where you promised not to run off on your own with Ethan, Trent, and me just because it seemed like a good idea at the time?"

Conner snorted. "You were just worried about me falling for Red Ranger peer pressure," he said. "I didn't go to the moon. I went to check on the kid that I've been helping. She'll be okay, by the way."

Kira looked relieved. "You're sure?"

"I'm her teacher," he said. "And I made sure the others knew what to do. Hey! About that! Who are the Red and Yellow anyway?"

"I sent out a memo," Kira said, folding her arms.

"And I turned it into a paper airplane and threw it at Ronny's head," Conner said. He paused. "Side note? Ronny probably didn't read it either."

"Conner!" She exclaimed.

"When it's important outside of the school, Ethan tells me. When it's inside the school, you or Tori tell me. Memos are boring," he said and she held her head.

"I hate you."

"No you don't," Conner said. "Now, more info on the other two."

***

Dustin was a lot less confident about going to SPD a second time especially since he didn't have Kira with him this time. He was also smiling and waving to the former students he recognized, but he wasn't sure if Sky would even want him here. It wasn't like Sky had ever really properly accepted him as a mentor anyway. That said, he'd asked Kira for the information she found on Sky's dad's team and had headed out to help him. Sky looked up at him as he entered and sighed. "I don't need another 'other colors are fine' lecture, Mr. Brooks," he said. Dustin nodded.

"I know," he said. "I heard what happened."

Sky was quiet for a minute. "Headmistress Ford didn't come with this time?" He finally asked and Dustin forced back a sigh. It was like trying to talk to Hunter or Will or other stupid people who didn't realize that it was totally okay to lower your guard and let your friends in. Still, he could work with this.

"Nope," he said. "Just me this time, Dude. Last time you totally hurt her, dude, so it's probably good that only I'm here."

Sky winced. "Can you let her know I'm sorry for that?"

Dustin beamed. "Sure!" He said. Maybe it was just a little, but it looked like being a Power Ranger was doing good for Sky. He sat down next to him and was pleased when Sky didn't move. "So, Kira talked to a friend of hers and they found out what you were looking for, Dude!"

Sky blinked. "You found out what happened to the other Rangers?" He asked and Dustin nodded. "Can I see?"

Dustin paused. "You can," he said. "But it might distract you from the fight and stuff. But I can tell you that the Blue Ranger? Totally cool."

Sky looked interested. "He was?"

"She was," Dustin answered. "And trust me, girl blues are scary! Tori and Maddie are girl blues and when they get mad, I hide. And this Blue? Just as cool. She totally had your dad's back, dude."

Sky gave a small smile that turned into a frown. "Then what happened to her?"

"Well, your dad led them in the battle, but when he couldn't anymore, she took over and took Mirloc down. And she was hurt bad. So, using the finishing weapon? It put her in a coma. She's still in it," he answered. Sky just blinked.

"She did that?" He asked and Dustin nodded.

"I can show you all of them when you're done. Or Headmistress Ford can or both. It's up to you," he said. "But we found out what happened to them and they mattered, Dude. It was her family that didn't want it in the news."

Sky was quiet for a minute and then looked at Dustin. "I already decided that being a Blue Ranger was okay," he admitted. "Jack lent me his morpher so I could arrest my dad's killer, but this makes me feel better."

"I think," Dustin said. "That she'd be proud of you, Dude. And your dad couldn't have thought she wasn't worth it because she totally didn't hesitate."

Sky glanced over at the helmet that was sitting on his desk and then back at Dustin. "I was a little kid when they gave me that," he admitted. "And I thought it's what I always wanted to be."

"Part of growing up," Dustin said. "Is finding out that you're pretty awesome too even if you aren't your dad or mom or anyone else."

"That's what you and Mr. McKnight were trying to get through to us?" He asked and Dustin grinned.

"Casey totally complained that you'd listen great in his class, but you needed ours," he said. "Conner hit his head against the desk like sixteen times. We were worried about you."

"I'm fine," Sky said in a tone that made Dustin all too aware of how not okay the young man was. That said, he was also to the point where there wasn't much more he could do.

"Okay," Dustin said. "If you need me, I'm a phone call away! And when this is over, we'll go over the other Rangers on your dad's team, okay?"

Sky nodded. "I'll hold you to that, Mr. Brooks." Dustin chose to believe that part of that statement was just for him and not just because he had the information. With all of the slight progress Sky was making, he could honestly believe it.

***

After Dustin had just begged her for the notes and ran, Kira was seriously considering putting a "You can't just take off" clause into the school. Unfortunately, she'd done it as well, so she doubted that they would listen. Sure enough, when it was Bridge's turn at feeling particularly low, Justin just opened her door without knocking. "I'm going to Bridge. Cancel my classes," he said and then shut her door. Justin would feel bad about being abrupt later, but he had other things to focus on: Mainly Bridge and calming himself down before he went to see Bridge.

He headed to the base and gave a few nods to the former students he saw, though he wasn't slowing down. All of them seemed to understand by this point and that caught his attention. They'd paid attention to some of their former students, but less so to others. “Erin,” he said to one of the techs that he recognized and had helped teach. She looked at him. “You know you can call us if you're having problems.”

She smiled. “We know, Mr. Stewart,” she assured him. He nodded, looking a little relieved as he kept going. With the assurance that his techs were okay, his attention had gone back to the Ranger that wasn't. Part of him was wondering if they all would have been like this if Charlie's team hadn't disappeared. If Kira wouldn't have run to Charlie over every little, if Mystic Force wouldn't have crashed the building for Blue, if Tyzonn wouldn't have slipped in for Mat or Casey and RJ to help Tyrone. He had to hide a smile at the thought of Jarrod and Camille tearing apart the base to get to Yuki before the smile died. They hadn't had the chance to do that, but he had the chance to help now and he was taking it.

He heard the other Rangers call his name in surprise, but he wasn't surprised when Bridge wasn't with them. He ignored them and headed into Bridge's bedroom, shutting the door behind him to give them privacy. He took a few breaths, but Bridge looked up. “You're angry, Mr. Stewart,” Bridge said quietly.

“And your powers are out of control, Bridge,” Justin answered back. Bridge blinked and Justin sighed. “So here's what's going to happen. You're going to tell me what happened, why you look exhausted, and you're going to eat toast with me. It will be buttery. You will like it.”

Bridge nodded as Justin headed over. He didn't like to force his will on others, but Bridge was trying to hold himself together and Justin knew that clipped instructions would help stabilize the younger Ranger. He wasn't sure which of Bridge's powers had kicked into overdrive, but he did know that it would be best to start simple and work out from there. Once he set the toast down and they'd started, he waited on Bridge. “I was dream fighting,” Bridge said.

“Okay,” Justin said. “How many times?”

“Three,” he answered. Justin nodded.

“No wonder you're tired,” he said gently. “I'd be tired too.”

Bridge was quiet for a minute, seemingly thinking that over, before he spoke up. “Mr. Stewart?”

“Hmm?” Justin asked.

“Did you ever feel like you weren't really part of the team even though you are because you're a Power Ranger and that's how it works...” Bridge started and Justin cut him off.

“Yes,” he said and Bridge looked surprised. “When I joined Turbo, I was twelve. The others were about ready to graduate from high school. So, none of them really looked at me like an equal. They didn't know how to react because of the age difference and the experience difference. Is it the same for you? Physical powers vs. your mental ones?”

Bridge didn't answer. Justin worried about that. He snacked on his toast for a minute, waiting on Bridge to continue. “Mr. Stewart, do you believe me when I tell you what I can do?”

“Of course,” he answered. “Bridge, I know some of what you can do and you're gaining new abilities. If the gloves aren't enough anymore...”

“They are!” Bridge said quickly, worrying Justin even further. A lot of his reactions were like when they'd first started to work with him.

“Okay,” Justin said, knowing he wouldn't win the fight and that it wouldn't help Bridge to calm down if he force him to talk about it. He was quiet again for a minute. “Bridge, you do know that whatever new powers you get or whatever you see, you can talk to me.”

Bridge nodded, though he still seemed off. Skeptical if Justin had to call it something. There was silence again and Justin sighed. “Okay,” he said. “So, I heard you rebuilt the dog.”

Bridge's eyes lit up. “RIC.”

“Right,” Justin said. “You added a toaster?”

“It's for toast. Buttery toast.”

“I'm sure it's the butteriest. Did you have to get rid of anything to get it in there?” He asked. And Bridge shook his head as he went straight into tech mode and started to cheer up. Justin moved him from subject to subject for a few hours until he was certain that his former student was doing better. He wasn't thrilled about Bridge's hiding it and he was worried why he was, but when Bridge leaned into him, making sure not to touch the skin but keeping the closeness, Justin didn't really care.

***

“The school is built, Conner,” Tori informed him as he promptly ignored her. He was busy setting things up. “We don't have to sleep outside.”

“I told you I had a plan,” Conner said.

“When?”

“Earlier this year,” he said. Tori groaned.

“You were supposed to go over that with me, Conner!” She snapped, folding her arms. “I don't think this is going to help Kira. Or Maddie.”

Conner finally stopped what he was doing for a minute and stood up to face her. “Tori?” He asked. “Do you have any idea where Charlie or Blue or any of them are? Because I don't. You know what I do know? Andros is looking for them. Billy called in Aquitar for help. Jason called Triforia. I don't know who, but someone called Edenoi. Every Power Ranger is calling in whatever favors they have to look for them. Every single one of them. They're finding ways of going and looking. They're sending us reports. Kira is hurting. Madison is hurting. I'm hurting. You're hurting. But we've pulled it together this past year because we had to.

“So we're going to have a campout because you were right. Every time we plugged up one hole, another appeared. And we can't stop that,” he said. “But we can have a campout and deal with it as a family. Now hand me the marshmallows.”

Tori was quiet for a minute and then passed him the food. Every once in a while, she forgot Conner was a Red Ranger and then he'd take control for a minute or two like right then. She looked at him. “She won't be happy.”

“I know,” Conner said taking it and sitting down. “I can't make her happy right now.”

Seeing the crux of the problem, Tori moved over to him and sat down, pulling her to him. “You're a good friend and a good leader. You're doing everything right,” she reassured him. “She's just not going to be okay for a little while.”

“I know,” he answered. “Tori?”

“Yeah?”

“Will you make her come here?” He begged. She laughed.

“I'll drag all of them here,” she said. “What's an underboss for?”

“Being awesome,” he said, relieved that she was on his side now. She was still going to check up on his ideas, but even she had to admit this was a good one. She nodded and headed off as he finished. He didn't know what she'd told the rest of them, but all of them looked ready and willing to join him. He gave her a smile as they all leaned back and tried to enjoy themselves. It was a start, one that he hoped would help keep them going until they found A-Squad.


	22. Chapter 21

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A-Squad is back.

Kira sighed. "I don't know when you're going to get your morpher, Flynn," she said. "It just sort of happens. We already have two Ranger teams right now. Please don't ask for more trouble."

"But couldn't we help them?" He asked. She liked Flynn. Most of the time he was an easy-going kid that was far easier to deal with than his teammates. Today, however, he was too engaged in wanting to be a superhero.

"That's not how it works," she said. "It's rare for two teams to go against the same villain. The only reason there's two now is because one is missing."

She was impressed that her voice didn't shake when she said it. Flynn looked at the ground. "I'm sorry. I met Charlie once when she came to visit. And the twins showed off Yuki. They seemed really nice."

"Thank you," she said. "And they're coming back, Flynn. We just don't know when. And Flynn? I promise you'll get your morphers when it's time and you'll do great."

He looked proud, opening his mouth to say something and then closing it. He looked a little puzzled. "Headmistress?" He asked, point to the computer that had shot up an alert for a special new bulletin. She clicked on it and it opened. Three words caught her eye from the headline: “Grumm is gone.” She stared at it for a minute, not sure why her phone wasn't ringing from SPD. She read down to the byline and her eyes widened. Flynn watched her for a minute and then rushed out of the room. She wasn't sure if he was telling the rest of her staff, other teachers, or the students, but she didn't stop him. Right now, she was just in too much shock.

Conner rushed in, looking confused but worried. That told her who Flynn had found first. "Kira? Flynn just raced by and told me that it was important that I come in here now. What's going on?" He asked and saw her just staring in shock. "Kira? Are you okay? Kira!"

Kira didn't answer, but pointed to the screen. Conner came up behind her to look before yelling over his shoulder. "Tori!" Tori ninja streaked in, sending papers flying everywhere, before looking at Conner. He just pointed to the screen which she came over to look at. Her eyes widened as the rest of the staff were piling in after her. Tori looked at the others.

"Why weren't we told?" She demanded. Will snorted.

"They probably think it's our fault," he growled. Madison put a hand over her mouth as Ronny could only stare. They stayed like that for a minute until Kira finally came out of her shock. She slammed her hands down on the desk, causing Conner and Tori to jump a bit before standing up.

"How DARE they!" She snapped as she headed out the door. All of the others barely looked at each other before quickly following. "Charlie, Blue, Mat, Tyson, Yuki were our first students. We taught them to be Rangers. They wouldn't do this without a reason. But do they call? No! Half of SPD exists because of this school!"

She marched past several of the other buildings and heads started to poke out as they figured out what Kira was talking about. Conner noticed that the other teachers were quick to join them. First was Xander and Chip who were followed by Jarrod and Camille. Casey caught up next, walking with his semi-teammates. Tyzonn was at Will's side before long. Dustin was last, but he was already on the phone, talking with Cam. Conner could hear his own cellphone. He pulled it out and looked at it to see a worried text from Trent. Then one from Ethan. Then a panicked one from Tommy. He sent them one back to tell them where they were headed and the phone was silent. He assumed it was because they were on their way.

After their teachers had taken off, the students looked at each other as they stepped out of the classrooms. There was a slight pause before Kay was racing after them with the twins next to her. Scott was on her heels, motioning with his head which caused Flynn and Summer to quickly join him. Ziggy looked at Dillon and Tenaya who nodded back to him as they joined the others. That was when the rest of the school rushed out and just followed their teachers and classmates. Kira couldn't have been prouder.

They made their way out of the school where Ronny rushed over and got the 'bus' to take them to SPD. Kira headed in and sat down in the front as everyone else piled in after. The students were whispering among themselves. It was Summer who spoke up first. "They couldn't have gone rogue, right?"

Kira looked over at her. "No Ranger has ever gone rogue before," she said. "The Power is there for a reason, Summer. It chooses Rangers, we don't choose the Power. This isn't possible."

"So what happened?" Scott asked. "Because they were definitely not being good guys."

"Sometimes, magic turns Rangers bad for a bit. Or other things happen," she said. "But deep down, no Ranger is bad. They can't be. Trent tried to kill us because of magic. Blake and Hunter were brainwashed for a bit. Tyzonn had some issues. Jarrod and Camille had some... well... we don't talk about it. The point is, all Rangers are good deep down."

She looked completely sure of herself, but she couldn't help wondering what had happened. She wouldn't doubt them. She wouldn't, but it was possible that they thought they were doing the right thing. Would the Power let them do things if they really thought they were in the right? What had happened? She knew they hadn't had the easiest of lives, but she refused to believe that they could ever go bad. She felt a hand on her shoulder and turned to see Conner looking back at her, his face matching hers. Not for the first time, Kira grasped all of the teachings her mentor had given her.

“Of course they didn’t go bad,” Kay said, arms folded. “No one was prouder to be Rangers than Charlie and her team.”

The rest of the school looked at her and Kira saw several of the teachers glancing over. Like Kira herself, they needed to hear it. To hear that Conner had taught them well in this and that they were right. No one wanted to think about a team going rogue. “Maybe they changed their mind?” One of the other students suggested. Kay huffed.

“That’s not how it works,” she said firmly. “Even if they did go bad, and they didn’t, they wouldn’t have kept their morphers.”

“But what about the first green Ranger? Or the other bad Rangers?” Another kid said. He was new. Painfully new and hadn't taken most of Dustin's courses. Kira tried not to look like it bothered her, hard as that was. She hated that she was so bothered by this whole thing but the truth was, both Tommy and Trent were magically effected and both of them had kept their power. She'd brought up Trent in an earlier example but hearing someone else say it hurt.

“Then it’s magic’s fault or brainwashing. If they made the decision, the Power would reject them. They wouldn’t be able to use it anymore. I guess they could use something else, but they wouldn’t be the same,” she answered. Several of them looked confused and Kay gave them a disbelieving look. Kira tried not to laugh at how much she looked like Cam when she got like this. 

“You all do know that Cole is the reason you’re here, right?” Kay asked. “That’s because he’s an empath and Andros taught him to use the Power to help find us. When they went to SPD, if there was evil in their hearts, the Power would reject them.”

“I remember them,” one of the others said softly. “They had tempers. Well, Charlie had a temper.”

“Tell you what,” Kay said with more than a little anger. “You go through everything they went through and don’t be angry…”

“Kay, honey, calm down,” Tori said gently. She glanced over at her aunt and nodded.

“Sorry, Ms. Hanson,” she said politely. Scott looked over.

“Kay’s right,” he said. “I mean, come on. It’s Charlie. No one was surprised when she got her spandex…”

“It’s not spandex,” Kay muttered. Dustin looked over at her.

“Kay, dude, it’s spandex,” he teased. “Even Cam calls it spandex.”

“Dad’s wrong,” she said softly, but let Scott continue.

“Everyone said they knew she’d get a morpher,” He said. Everyone looked at each other and nodded. Summer stood beside him.

“We can’t doubt them. Not right now when they need us!” She exclaimed and Flynn nodded.

“They need us to stand by them,” he said. “They’re heroes. Like us.”

Dillon nodded and Ziggy whooped, dragging Gem and Gemma down with him in cheering. Kira felt that surge of pride increase. “Once a Ranger,” she whispered. Tori set a hand on her shoulder in agreement. Kira looked out toward Ronny. “How much longer?”

“Not long,” she assured her. She looked past Kira. “Will, someone is texting...”

“I’m on it,” he said, texting something on his phone. “I keep telling them to talk to me…”

“I think it’s Dax.”

“It’s always Dax.”

“Would you like some help?” Tyzonn asked and Will grunted a yes. A few seconds later, Tyzonn was doing the same. Kira looked around to see Casey doing the same with Camille and Jarrod. Dustin was on the phone again. Xander was doing something that she couldn’t see, but she was willing to bet that he was doing the magical equivalent. It warmed her a bit to know that people cared. Yet, when the bus landed, she wasn’t expecting the spectacle that awaited her.

Logically, she knew that there were a lot of Power Rangers. Her mentor’s video had told her that a long time ago. She recognized some of them, but it was four teams that surprised her having met few of them. She headed over to them and five people stood away from the others. She instinctively knew they were the reds of the group and, knowing her mentor’s history, didn’t question the number of them. It was the girl who spoke up. “Kira Ford?”

“That’s me,” she said. The woman smiled.

“I’m Lauren Shiba and this is my younger brother, Jayden of the Samurai team,” she said politely. Kira nodded.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you,” she said and looked over her shoulder to a familiar face. “Hello, Antonio.”

He gave her a cheeky wave. Jayden looked surprised. “You know him?”

“I know him,” she said. “He went to my school and then picked up and left. Good to see you, Antonio.”

“Good to see you too, Headmistress,” Antonio said and she smiled before looking over at the other red. 

“I’m Troy,” he said. “Mega Force.”

“Good to meet you out of uniform,” she said with a smile. “When this is over, all of our teams should share a story or two.”

“I’d like that,” he answered. She glanced over at the last one with a slight grin.

“You, I recognize,” she said in amusement. “Mostly from Ethan. Nice to meet you in person, Tyler.”

He reached out and shook her hand. “You too!” He said. With that, they all moved out of the way as Kira moved forward to be face to face with Tommy, Cole and Andros right behind him. She looked at her old mentor with an amused smile.

“You found a lot of Power Rangers,” she said. Tommy shared her smile.

“You find a lot of trouble,” he answered. “We thought you might need the backup.”

“How did you manage this?” She asked.

There was a polite cough and she looked over to see Carter. “Lightspeed has to have minimal contact with SPD because we're connected with the US Government. Charlie's team have always been ours so when I found out what was going on, I called Andros and Leo. I apologize. I assumed you were told what had happened with Charlie's team before the news.”

“Don’t worry about it,” she assured him. “I’d assume that too.”

She looked forward and then back at the others. She felt Tommy’s hand on her shoulder. “Thank you,” she whispered. “I… It’s a lot…”

“I know,” he assured her. “I promised we’d all be here for you. And we are. You needed us and I wanted to help you.”

She pulled herself together and looked at the group. “Let’s go then,” she said, holding herself together. As one, they followed behind, none of them overtaking her. Tori took her right, Conner was on her left. Will was directly behind her while Ronny and Madison were slightly behind him. Then fell every other Ranger behind them.

“Headmistress?” Kay asked. “What if they don’t let us in?”

“They’ll let us in,” she said, making sure she left no room for worry or uncertainty. They’d let her in if she had to break down their base and fight her way through the rubble. Kay seemed to catch that.

“Good,” she said. “Because I’m not leaving Charlie there.”

“Me neither,” Kira assured her. She met Kay’s eyes and saw the determination there. She gave a nod to her as they marched up to SPD. To her surprise, Commander Cruger seemed to be waiting for her outside. She’d never been able to read him like she could other people, but she could have sworn that he didn’t look happy. When she saw that Birdie was next to him, she could figure out why. Cruger looked at her.

“Headmistress Ford,” he said with a polite nod. She returned it.

“Hello, Commander Cruger,” she said. “I must have missed the phone call. I apologize.”

It might have been a cheap shot, but his answer told her what she needed to know. “I have to apologize myself,” he said. “I was told it was taken care of. I was wrong.”

She and Cruger had never been the best of friends, but she didn't feel the loss of ally like she thought she was going to. There was an understanding there and she made certain her comments were directed at him. “I’m here to see her,” she said. She didn’t need to tell him who. 

“Are you sure?” Cruger asked, though just as it had been when Charlie had disappeared, it was gentle for him.

“I want to see Charlie,” she said again. It was at this point that Commander Birdie took over.

“She’s a war criminal,” he informed her. “Would you like to talk to Grumm while you’re at it?”

“Of course not,” Kira said. “I have no interest in a man who sent an attack to my school of unarmed children. I have faith in SPD to handle him from this point on just as I trust Lightspeed Rescue to handle things in their jurisdiction. No, I’m after my first Red Ranger and to find out what really happened.”

She saw Sky, Syd, and Bridge as well as their two teammates behind Cruger at the door. Each of them looked conflicted, which she completely understood. This had been a blow and it wasn't like her team had been gentle with Trent when they were bringing him in after he was evil. Trust broken took time to heal and they were caught inbetween a rock and a hard place. Birdie looked at her incredulously. “The team decided to try to kill Commander Cruger and the other Rangers.”

Kira paused for a minute and glanced behind her, meeting Tommy's eyes. He nodded and she had permission. Several other Rangers, including Trent, gave her the same nod. “The first Earth Green Ranger caused a lot of damage to Angel Grove and to his future team. Magic spell over him. The second pink Ranger nearly killed the first Pink Ranger. Magic spell. First Pink and first Red tried to take down Turbo’s first team. Magic spell. Titanium Ranger tried to kill Lightspeed and their mentor. Raised by demons and brainwashed from it. Lunar Ranger tried to kill Wild Force. Evil magic spell mask. Thunder Ninja Rangers tried to kill Ninja Storm’s mentor and roughed up their tech. Brainwashed. White Dino Thunder trapped one of the Rangers in amber, tried to kill all of them, and did some serious city damage. Evil spell. Mystic Force had a guy who was trying to kill the team who used to be the Red Ranger and was forced with evil magic to serve evil. In hell. Operation Overdrive’s sixth was blackmailed. Jungle Fury’s were evil spell and one of the evil learning how to be a good person. Need I go on?” She demanded. “Because I’m not sure if you’re getting this, but evil happens to the best of us. You shrug it off and move on.”

“There’s not magical evidence involved,” Birdie said. “And those others weren’t part of SPD. If they had been, they’d be in jail.”

Kira tensed and realized that she wasn't the best one to handle it. She looked at Xander. “You handle him.”

“No worries, Kira,” he said and took center stage. “Hi, names Xander. Headmistress Kira needs a minute so we'll work on this together. Now, there was no little signals that something might not be right?”

Bridge raised his hand as his team as well as Birdie and Xander looked at him. “Their aura felt off,” he said quietly. Xander nodded.

“Alright. There we go. We should have looked into...,” Xander started.

“That doesn’t prove anything!” Birdie snapped. Xander’s face stayed the same and Kira had to wonder why she didn’t use him more often.

“You’re right,” Xander said. “It doesn’t. But we might be able to come up with something that does make sense if we try, right? Isn’t that what we all want, Mate? To make sure this doesn’t happen again?”

“I, yes of course,” Birdie said, looking a bit unhappy, but knowing that he needed to go with Xander if he had a chance of winning this. Xander beamed and turned to Bridge. Kira noticed that she wasn’t the only one who felt like playing into their temporary team dynamics, but Bridge wouldn’t understand that. Not yet.

“So, mate, what did the aura feel like?” He asked. Bridge looked a little more sure of himself and Kira swore she was going to have a talk with his teammates over being supportive later. Justin has mentioned his concerns earlier when she'd visited him. She's considered that he still hadn't felt comfortable with his powers, but his team weren't banding behind him right now. She knew three out of five had taken Conner’s class. She glanced over at Conner to see a similar frown on his face and she had the feeling that he was thinking the same thing. It wasn’t about whether or not they understood, but that they trust their teammate’s judgment.

“It just felt off,” he said. “I’ve felt their auras plenty of times, but they felt different this time. Not a lot.”

“When did you notice it?” Kira asked.

“Right before they disappeared,” he admitted. “It didn’t see that different, but they felt the same when they got back too.”

Kira was silent for a moment. She was pretty sure that Xander was still talking or Birdie was again or someone was. She just was focused on the fact that an entire year had gone by where Bridge had noticed that there was something off about her first Rangers, about her daughter, and nothing had been done about it. “We should have kept them longer,” she whispered. Xander paused and looked at her.

“Kira?” He asked, forgetting her title for a moment. She was too angry and that wasn't going to make Xander's job easier. Right now, however, she only saw worry on her friend's face.

“They needed more time at the school,” she said, ignoring him. She looked at Birdie and Cruger. “Move.”

To her surprise, Cruger did slightly enough to allow her to get through. Will was on her heels while Tori moved up to stand near Xander and get the information from Bridge. The other Rangers were waiting with Xander and Tori as they handled Birdie for her. She strode into the base, mostly ignoring the people staring at her. Those that she’d helped to train pushed the others back and let their former headmistress pass. None of them wanted to stand in her way and she realized just how far their influence had gone. Even after they’d left, they still had respect for her. She made her way through and paused, looking at one of the techs. “Sarah,” she said gently. “Where is the prison?”

“Down the hall, Headmistress,” she answered, pointing. Kira nodded. “Will Charlie and Blue be okay?”

“They’ll all be fine,” Kira answered. Sarah nodded and Kira continued on her way. The fear in Sarah’s eyes had dissipated. Kira was never going to hear the end of this from the rest of the teachers when they got back to the school. They would all claim that they were right to have drafted her and that they'd made a difference across a galaxy. They'd ignore her when she tried to protest and point back to this time. She could live with that. She made her way down into the prison and passed by several criminals which she promptly ignored. She wasn’t here for them. They were being kept in their own area and she strode in while Will waited at the door. Yuki was the first to notice her.

“Headmistress,” she said. Kira smiled at her.

“How are you holding up, Yuki?” She asked. The girl looked a little nervous, unsure about what to say, but Kira looked at her. “Yuki?”

“I’m not sure what happened,” she admitted. “It’s kind of a blur.”

“That’s alright. We’ll get it sorted out. Tyson?” She said, turning to her next charge. He looked at the ground and then finally back up at her, giving her a nod. It was something that she could give to his mother later. She’d take it. She glanced at Mat who gave her the best reassuring smile he could. She stopped in front of Blue’s cell. He glanced at her and then glanced away. She recognized the shame in his eyes. “I will fix this, Blue.”

“We did it,” he said. “What’s there to fix?”

“Oh, I am so sending the five of you to talk to Doctor O when you’re out,” she said slightly scolding. “We all believe in you, but I need you to believe in yourself as well.”

Blue didn’t look completely convinced and Kira made a note to push him on vacation to Briarwood when this was over. He needed his family and the town would stand by their proverbial son. Especially if the other Rangers vouched for him. He’d need that. She looked at the last cell which was further from the others. She moved over to it and stood outside of it, looking in.

“You haven’t been eating enough,” Kira informed her. “Conner is going to have a fit.”

Charlie didn’t turn around. Kira hadn’t expected her to. She could feel the rest of Charlie’s team watching, willing Kira to fix their broken teammate. She wasn’t about to let them nor her down. “Charlie…”

“You shouldn’t have come, Kira,” she answered. Kira couldn’t help but feel a little relieved. She ignored the words. If she started listening when people said things like that, she would have had a much different time in the suit.

“I needed to,” she said. “Because I know you.”

“I hurt a lot of people,” Charlie said. “I’m not better than Grumm.”

“Oh, Charlie,” Kira said with impatience. “Now I know you’re going to be fine eventually. That’s a ‘I was under a magic spell and did bad things’ speech if I’ve ever heard one. And I have. Several times.”

“Kira…”

“Quiet. I didn’t put up with it from Trent or Doctor O. What makes you think I’m putting up with it from you?” She asked, arms folded. “And I’m not going anywhere.”

“I don’t want to talk to you,” Charlie said. Kira rolled her eyes.

“Well you better start because if I can’t get through to you, Kay is going to be in here yelling at you. A lot. I’m starting to get tempted to go get her,” Kira said. Charlie actually turned away from the wall a bit.

“What does Kay want?” She asked.

“Her cousin back. She looks up to you,” Kira said.

“She does not.”

“Charlie, if she wasn’t Cam’s daughter, she’d think you hung the moon instead of explaining to me in a lot of detail on how that actually works.” There was a slight snort and Kira knew that she had her student down. “She would.”

“Kay doesn’t do the hero worship thing,” Charlie said, looking at Kira. “She’s too smart for that.”

“She’s still young,” Kira argued. “Kids do stuff like that. They climb on buildings and cry in the rain and convince their aunts and uncles to let them drive around at reckless speeds.”

Charlie gave a small smile. “Maybe you shouldn’t bother.”

“And give up those memories? I’d sooner give up my pterascream,” she said. 

There was silence. “I killed people.”

“I know.”

“I delivered Commander Cruger to Grumm.”

“Would have preferred you did it to Commander Birdie instead.”

“Kira!”

“I really don’t like that bird,” she said.

“You’re missing the point,” Charlie pushed. “I deserve to be here.”

“You may not have known what was going on, but Bridge saw your aura was shifted,” Kira said. “We’ll work out what happened to you, but that’s not important right now.”

“What is?”

“You,” Kira said. Charlie looked at her, trying to be the strong girl she’d always been. She walked over and put her hand up so that Kira could match it. Kira did so.

“I’m so sorry,” Charlie said and Kira could hear the edge to her voice as she tried to force back her emotions. Kira just wanted to hold her and remind her it was okay to cry. “I won’t let it happen again.”

“This sort of thing happens to the best of Rangers,” she reminded her. “It’s not your fault. Charlie, I will find out what really happened and we’ll get you out. There’s an entire army of Rangers out there demanding answers. Commander Cruger and B-Squad are confused. The school is on your side. Even some of the people here are on your side. You have nothing to be hating yourself for. If all of them know you for the person you are, why can’t you see yourself like that?”

“Because I still hurt them. How do I fix this?” She asked. “How do I make it better?”

“Slowly,” Kira said. “But we’ll help you. I’ll help you. Charlie, I will take time off from the school. Tori can run it. What’s important is helping you. All of you.”

“Kira…”

“I mean it,” Kira said firmly. Charlie finally started to let the tears fall and Kira inwardly cursed that she couldn’t hold her this time.

“I just want to go home, Mom,” Charlie whispered. Kira’s heart broke.

“I know, Charlie. I know,” she said, sitting near Charlie as she cried. It took Kira a little time before she realized that she was crying too.

***

“Birdie is an asshole,” Kira informed Tommy who chuckled.

“Six.”

“Six?”

“That’s the sixth time you’ve said it. Conner’s called him a bastard twice,” he said in amusement, glancing over to where Trent and Ethan were keeping Conner distracted. Neither of them looked incredibly happy either. “I have a feeling he’d have said it more if they hadn’t interfered.”

Kira didn’t doubt it. “Magic was involved, right? Why is this taking so long?”

“No, magic wasn’t involved. They were right about that With what we got from Bridge, hypnosis was involved. There’s a difference,” Tommy said. “Granted, they still shouldn’t be held for it, but Birdie isn’t letting this one go.”

“Which is why he’s a bastard!” Conner called out.

“Three,” Tommy said before continuing. “We’re working on it, Kira, but there’s probably going to be a trial and I take it I don’t need to explain why that’s a bad thing.”

“Charlie,” Kira said with a sigh. If you needed a jury to feel bad for you, being as jaded as Charlie probably wasn’t going to help with that. And that was assuming the rest of them were on their best behavior. Yeah, they were doomed if they went down that route. “Do we know how this is going to go down?”

“According to Andros, Birdie is firmly calling it SPD business, so we can’t say it’s a Ranger matter,” Tommy said.

“But they’re Rangers!” Kira argued. Tommy nodded.

“They’re also SPD and they messed with an SPD officer even if he's also a Ranger. There’s just not enough Ranger jurisdiction we can use. Even Zhane said we should concentrate on other things,” he said. “And if it were possible, Zhane would be pushing for a Ranger trial.”

“Then it’s probably not possible,” Kira said with a sigh. There was only so much hope she could allow herself to have and right now she needed to believe that they’d get Charlie out. She didn’t believe they’d be hurt, but being stuck in a card for eternity did not sound much better. “How is this happening?”

Tommy pulled her into a hug. “I don’t know,” he said honestly. “But we’re all behind you.”

Ethan called over from where he was sitting, letting Trent work out with Conner for a bit to deal with some of the pent up anger. “Cassidy and Devin wanted me to tell you that she’d going to be covering it. So, that’s something. Oh! Doctor O, you have an email too.”

Tommy looked over and then sternly at Ethan. “Are you hacking my email again?”

“No, you left it up,” he answered, pointing to it. Tommy looked a little embarrassed, but fortunately for him, Ethan decided that it wasn’t a good time to tease his mentor about it. Tommy reached down and opened the email, smiling when he did so.

“And we have Bulk and Skull on our side,” he said. Ethan looked confused.

“Your school’s bullies?” He asked. Tommy smiled.

“They grew up, Ethan. They help us out with civilian things sometimes. Not like Hayley, of course,” he said. Conner snorted.

“No one is as good as Hayley,” he said. The other three agreed and Tommy found himself nodding as well.

“But they still like to help. Just like Cassidy and Devin. I’ll see if I can get them to help with social media and get that going,” he said. “The point is, we need all of the help we can get.”

“I don’t have to look to know that Briarwood is behind us,” Kira said. Tommy nodded.

“A lot of Angel Grove will be too,” he said. “And the Aquitian Rangers have sent their support, according to Billy.”

“Why can’t we have more allies in SPD?” Kira asked softly. Tommy looked at Ethan and both of them headed back over to her.

“We’ll get her out,” Tommy assured her. Ethan yanked on her arm a bit.

“Come look at the ‘we believe in you’ email,” he offered. She shrugged and followed him over, smiling when she saw it. “There are people who trust us.”

Kira looked at Tommy. “Do you think it will be enough?”

“I think we need to push for it to be,” he answered. It wasn’t the answer that Kira was hoping for and not for the first time, she was scared.


	23. Chapter 22

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The trial.

“We need a lawyer,” Kira said again. It had been decided that it wasn't Ranger jurisdiction nor SPD, but both. Meaning that they were sending in a civilian judge to act as an arbitrator. They had also decided to pull things together quickly meaning that there was only a few more hours to the court date and she was starting to feel fidgety. Eric Myers rolled his eyes.

“Wes says he has a solution,” he said. He glanced over at Conner. “Can’t you calm her down?”

“I’m too busy not punching random SPD members who work for Birdie,” he answered. Eric rolled his eyes again.

“Don’t you two have a Blue?” He asked.

“Which one? The one who is working with the email and supporters to help that angle or the one is working on making sure Madison doesn’t flood the courtroom in anger?” He asked.

“Nevermind,” Eric muttered. They were all insane. He didn’t care what Tommy said. These kids were just crazy. 

“Do you know who he got for help?” Kira asked.

“No.”

“But you’re his partner!”

“That doesn't mean I know,” Eric answered. He was about ready to ditch the lot of them to Tommy. Especially since Tommy wasn’t much better with the twitching, even if he was asking fewer questions at the moment. Mostly, Eric was pretty sure that was because Tommy believed that Kira would ask any question he could think of for him. He just sighed.

“Eric!” Wes’ voice rang out and Eric could have kissed his partner for shutting all of them up. He looked over to see him coming over with an almost identical man at his side looking more serious. Eric groaned.

“You called Alex?” He asked. Wes grinned.

“He knows how to handle this,” he said. “How else do you think Jen and the others got off?”

Alex gave a quick nod to Eric who returned it. He looked over at Kira next and gave her a polite nod as well. “Headmistress Ford.”

“Commander Drake,” she returned. “Thank you for coming.”

“It’s an honor,” he said. She looked surprised.

“An honor,” she said honestly. Alex leaned over and whispered in her ear.

“I trained at the academy,” he whispered before pulling away and giving her a knowing smile that quickly disappeared. Kira was surprised by her own ability to keep the shock off her face. She knew that Jen, Lucas, Trip, and Katie hadn’t trained at the school considering how they'd gotten their morphers, but from what she could remember, that made sense. Alex had been the first Time Force Ranger. If the Academy still existed, he had went to it. She just honestly hadn’t expected it to be going for so long. His face was all business again. “This isn’t going to be easy.”

“Nothing ever is,” Kira said. Alex nodded. 

“Wes said it was hypnotism?” He asked. She nodded. “That one is difficult to prove. There’s no residual marks from it.”

“Bridge said that their auras were affected,” Kira said. “Before they left.”

“Then it most likely started there,” he said and turned to Wes. “Why didn’t you mention we had a Ranger with ESP?”

“They don’t respect it,” he answered. Alex looked surprised and glanced in Kira’s direction who shrugged tiredly.

“Bridge is a little odd,” she explained, still unhappy about it. “So even his team had a hard time accepting him.”

Alex sighed and rubbed his temples. “Trust your team,” he muttered. “It’s the first thing we’re taught. Team cohesion.”

Kira noticed the looks that Wes and Eric were sharing and she knew that she didn’t need them calling Alex out right now when they were trying to save Charlie. “Guys…” She started, but Alex just smiled at her before turning to Wes and Eric.

“I broke that rule,” he admitted. “I broke a lot of rules I learned, but I had been through a lot and there wasn’t enough time for therapy. That doesn’t make it right, but I’m sorry.”

Wes just nodded and grinned as Eric gave a short grunt. With that out of the way, Kira looked at Alex. “How do we fix this?”

“I’m not sure,” he said. “If his team would have backed him up from the beginning and looked into it, we could use Bridge easily and it would have taken an hour. With his team doubting him, it’s going to be hard to use him.”

Kira felt about ready to strangle Sky and Syd. She hadn’t had anything to do with Jack and Z and Cruger hadn’t been a Ranger. While they should have believed in him, Sky and Syd should have set a good example and backed him up. She had had Bridge, Syd, and Sky at her school and this had happened. She couldn't change the past right now though so she tried to move forward. “I see.”

“We’ll have to prove that Bridge is capable and work from there,” he said. “First step, you’re going to need to get his teammates to back him up completely.”

“I’ll see what I can do,” she said. Alex smiled.

“I’ll see what I can do about stalling,” he said. “I think that B-Squad needs a Power Ranger Remedial Course.”

Kira just grinned. “I think you’re right.”

***

Conner wasn't happy about it, but he did agree to figure out something when it was brought up to him. Alex and Kira, on the other hand, went to work on Charlie's team's defense. Alex sat back. "So, while this was a little explained," he said. "We have a group of Power Rangers that went against another group of Power Rangers. Even Commander Cruger works in that area. Every single one of them was also SPD. So it's a contested jurisdiction. It's not unheard of."

"Meaning?" Kira asked.

"Meaning that they won't pick a judge that's on one side or the other and that's why we have the civilian judge," Alex explained. "Which works in our favor right now because an SPD trial would have been harder to work with. This is their first set of Earth Power Rangers that have had this issue. And the first time it's been against SPD."

“Who else would it have been against?” She asked.

“There are other groups,” Alex said. “That I can't tell you about.”

“Got it," Kira said. "So there's both precedent on what to do, but no precedent on this exact thing?”

"Exactly," Alex said. "It won't be an easy trial, but I'll do what I can."

"That's all that I ask," she assured him. She sighed. "I just don't know what I'm doing anymore. You said you trained at the academy, but I'm not even sure if I'm qualified to run it. I have one team on trial. Another that didn't even listen. And now I'm even more worried about Scott's team. How many times can I screw this up?"

"From what I've heard," Alex said. "You're doing fine. Trip had a glowing review when he got back and Wes has complete faith in all of you. If he didn't, he wouldn't have called me. He trusts your judgment."

"And I trust his," she assured him. "So, let's go in, I guess."

He just nodded.

***

While it took place at SPD, he was right. The judge herself wasn't a member of either faction. She was, however, an Aquitian. Being Tommy's student for years meant that she'd met the Aquitian Rangers several times and that they'd visited her school more than once. They had told her that other Rangers in the galaxy had wanted to see what the school was like as well so they'd been elected to find out. She hadn't protested at all and insisted on greeting them herself every time.

"I am Seastra," the judge said when they'd quieted down. Supreme Commander Birdie was across from her. To her right were Charlie and her team in their own seating. B-Squad and Commander Cruger, as the group attacked, were in a similar seating arrangement on the other side. There was less seating for visitors within the room, but there was seating out of it. They could still see, but it had been explained to Kira that it cut down on protests and interruptions. "I will be the judge."

"I still don't understand why this isn't an SPD trial," Birdie snapped.

"Because everyone in question are Power Rangers as well," Alex said from his side. Birdie glared at him. "So it must remain neutral."

"I assume that neither side is willing to give up jurisdiction?" Seastra asked and neither side answered. "Then we'll continue with a neutral trial. I have the basics laid before me. We will begin...”

***

It had taken Conner the entire first day of the trial to figure out what to do for a remedial class, but he'd done it. As they stepped into his makeshift classroom created from one of the spare rooms in the building, Conner cheerfully looked them over as he folded his arms. Bridge, Syd, and Sky looked uncomfortable, but Conner didn't seem to even notice. Instead, he just looked at the others. “I'm Conner,” he said to Z and Jack. “If we were actually still at the academy, you'd be calling me Mr. McKnight but I really hate that rule so call me Conner. We don't have a lot of time here, so I'm going to get down to what you should already know: Trust your teammates.”

“We do,” Jack said. Conner looked at him.

“No you don't,” he said. “You get by. When Ethan says he can find something online, I assume he can. When Trent tells me that I need to stay out of something and to leave it to him, I do. When Kira comes to me and asks me for advice, I give it and trust her to do what she thinks is best. When we were Rangers, I always trusted Ethan and Kira and then eventually Trent. And we weren't even a military team. You don't have each other's backs.”

“Hey,” Jack said, starting to get angry. Conner blew him off. He wasn't surprised when the others didn't try to interfere.

“Really? None of you are going to help him? This is what I mean,” he said. “If Bridge would have had your support in the beginning? We wouldn't be dealing with Charlie in jail. Bridge knows what he's doing. He always has.”

Bridge looked surprised by that and Conner smiled at him. Z looked over at him. “But he comes up with stuff that...”

“That what? Can't be real? You're dealing with aliens from other planets and morphing using a mostly invisible grid, but this is what can't be real?” He asked. “Let me tell you a story. Once upon a time, there were five teenagers. A magical man who lives in a tube told them that they should be superheroes because his worst enemy finally got out of her intergalactic trash can and was going to try to take over the world. One of the five wanted to listen. He wanted to try to help, but the rest of his friends thought that the magical man was crazy and headed out the door. The witch from the trash can didn't know that they hadn't accepted and she attacked them so they went back to the magic man and accepted their destiny. And when they found another boy who needed their help, they didn't give up on him. They worked together to save him because they believed they could.”

The five of them looked a little embarrassed by that. "Bridge," Conner said gently. "Do you remember meeting Trip?"

Bridge nodded. "He really helped even though he said he didn't really know what he was doing either."

"He didn't when he was a Ranger either," Conner said. "And it was a problem. We built a school to fix problems so maybe we knew what we were talking about. Look, each Ranger team has to work together and for that, there has to be trust or everything falls apart. Usually for the team."

"Usually?" Z asked and Conner sighed.

"This time," he said. "It affected your team and another team. If Sky or Syd had thought about it, we could have gotten them checked out."

Syd looked horrified. "You mean we're part of the reason we're here?"

Conner reached over and touched her shoulder, but he didn't answer. He didn't want to make everything sound worse. Besides, he knew that they had already internalized it. He moved away from Syd and back to the desk. "There's a reason why I always start out the classes explaining that my team screwed up with Trent, our White and Sixth Ranger. We couldn't trust him. He did keep things from us which made things worse, but if we'd been thinking about it, we would have caught him before that. Our mentor worried he was evil. My team just didn't know how to react. And because of that, it nearly split us up. We're great now. There's a reason Kira put me in charge of this class."

"I thought you were drafted," Sky brought up and Conner grinned.

"I was," he said. "And I protested, but Kira insisted that I had this down. She believed in my ability to teach this. And I feel, right now, like I let her down."

All five of them looked a little ashamed at that. Bridge looked at him. "It's not your fault," he said. "My powers are just..."

"You," Conner cut in. "They're part of you. And you can use them. Just because you can't see it, doesn't mean its not there. Trent could use camouflage while our mentor could be invisible. That's nearly the same power and trust me, Trent felt it and sometimes wondered if it was any help at all. Here's the thing: He's a lot more patient than Doctor O so he could wait around longer for information even if he couldn't move around as much. Just because they don't understand your power doesn't mean it's not useful."

The others looked at each other and then at the ground. "Sorry, Bridge," Syd said quickly. The others were quickly nodding and Conner looked calmer over that.

"Part of it is you're part of a military group and sometimes, stuff like this is forgotten," Conner offered.

"But I should have caught it." Conner nearly jumped when Commander Cruger walked through the door.

"Uh... Commander... how's... I mean, how are you feeling?" Conner asked, feeling a bit overwhelmed. He'd taught three of these kids, to be fair, but he had only met the Commander twice.

"I think I'd like to listen in, Mr. McKnight," he said and Conner nodded.

"Of course," he said. Commander Cruger was, after all, a Ranger at this point so if he wanted to listen to what they taught, then Conner saw no reason to stop that. The old dog took a seat and motioned for Conner to continue. "I know that Sky, Syd, and Bridge already had this course, but since it's remedial, I figure we should start from the top. Every Ranger has at least one team. The biggest thing you need to figure out is where you fall into it."

"Like you're the leader," Jack said and Conner grinned.

"Of Dino Thunder," he said. "But at the school, we accidentally made a new team with the staff. Kira is the leader and Tori is second in command. I'm third in line."

"And you're okay with that?" Sky asked as Conner nodded.

"Kira is the Headmistress," he reminded them. "If I tried to fight her for power all the time, then the other teachers wouldn't know where to go. Back before you came to the school, we figured out we were a second team. Kira went from the heart of our team to the leader, Tori, well okay, she didn't change at all. I changed places with Kira as I backed everyone up and tried to keep them together, but that was a hard battle at first."

"Why?" Z asked.

"Because I didn't have my powers at first," he answered. "Meaning that I had to get the students into hiding and then stay out of it so I didn't distract the others. It sucked, but it was the best thing I could do. When Justin gave me them back since Ethan had fixed it, everything was better. And I was able to fight, but I'd already been doing my job which mostly came down to keeping Kira from killing everyone. Will went from being a second in command spy to being an overprotective bodyguard in charge of security. Ronny's place didn't really change either. Madison is our healer as well as being a voice of reason. Because Tori already has being the voice of reason handled, Madison is able to focus on trying to keep us all healthy. If you get Maddy near Xander and Chip, she immediately starts trying to talk sense into them. Will isn't quite as involved with Operation Overdrive in the same way he is when Kira decides on something that he worries about or the students get into it. Like I said, we all have different places.

"That's what makes a team. Each member brings something to the group so that it's fleshed out. Take Charlie's group. Charlie leads, but Blue stops her from going to far. Tyson and Mat cover the other's beserk buttons. Yuki keeps them all on track. Then they aim and use the others' abilities to get it done. You mostly have that, but you don't put it all together," he said. "The only one of you who shouldn't be working together as well is Commander Cruger."

"Why not?" He asked.

"Because you're a Sixth Ranger," he explained. "It's named after when there were five Rangers and a Sixth one showed up. You're on the outside so you don't blend as much. You help and protect the team without being a strict part of it. Trent is our Sixth, but we eventually dragged him in. He still has issues though. Like he'll be the last to leave a room or he'll head out on his own if he thinks he hears something. They also sometimes take a while to get into the group."

Cruger nodded and Conner was surprised to see that he was taking it in. "And if they rely on you too much?"

Conner could hear the beginning of a 'I think I messed up, but I'm not sure how' question a mile away. "Then you should let them know," he said. "Remind them that they won't always be there."

"Did you get that talk?" Jack asked and Conner gave a weak smile.

"We had Trent," he said. "We also had Doctor O. We never had that conversation because early in, he got covered in amber. Which made it hard for him to do anything."

They were all quiet after that and Cruger looked at him. "Did he die?"

"No. You saw him outside when Kira looked to him before she talked about the evil Rangers," Conner said. "We got him out and he was fighting with us until we all lost our powers."

He nodded. "I'd like to speak to him sometime," he said and Conner grinned.

"I'll let him know," he said. "I'd give you R.J.'s number too, but I'm not sure if you'd appreciate that one. The point is, Bridge had abilities and they were scoffed at. Sky, Syd, I'm angry at both of you."

"Isn't it more disappointed?" Sky asked and Conner grinned.

"I really hate sounding like Doctor O," he admitted. "Or Kira. Or Maddie. Point is, you two should have caught it. Bridge, you should have pushed it. That's why we let you graduate. So, the point is: Trust each other and this won't happen again. I really don't want to have to do this again. Class dismissed."

Syd raced up to him and he gave her a quick hug before giving her a look that assured her that he was confident in her from this point on. He headed out of the room after. Kira was waiting for him and she blinked when she saw Commander Cruger walk out as well. She glanced at Conner. "What do you think?"

"I think they got the message," he assured her. 

“Good. Because court's about to start,” she told him. They headed back toward the court as Alex was waiting for them near the entrance. 

Conner fist pumped into the air and grinned at the Time Force Officer. "Kick their asses, Alex!"

"I'll try," Alex said as Conner nodded and headed in. "He's enthusiastic."

"He's a pain in the ass," Kira said dryly. "But he hasn't changed in nearly twenty years so I gave up on him growing up."

"Probably for the best," Alex admitted. She smiled at that.

"You learn to just speak Conner and go with it," she said. That wasn't absolutely true, she was sure, but it worked for everyone she knew and Alex was a Ranger after all even if he was one from 1000 years in the future. He was just nodding. They made their way back to the defendant's section as it was starting to fill up. "Is this going well for us, Alex?"

"It's not going as bad as it could," he answered. "I think you've got a shot here of getting them out. We gave the basics. Now comes the hard part.”

“That wasn't the hard part?” She asked.

“Not even close,” he said sympathetically. She sighed.

“Alex?” She started.

“Yes?”

“Kick their asses,” she instructed. He just laughed.

“Got it,” he answered.

***

Kira didn't understand courts or law procedures or much of any of that. Sure, she'd done a time or two of jury duty, though not nearly as often as she would have expected, but that didn't mean that she had a huge handle on the American Judicial System let alone the Intergalactic Judicial System of Madness. There were precedents that they hadn't taken into consideration before. For instance, if a Xybrian said was asked something, their word was taken as gospel since they didn't know how to lie. Specifics about a planet from science to laws were given by a member of that planet who was qualified. Magic was a precedent that existed and could be quantified. All of it gave her a headache.

That said, Alex moved through it smoothly, being careful to work around the fact that some of the precedents had changed by the time he was born. He'd looked over the current information and was able to keep himself from looking like he was having trouble.

“You’ve been a huge help,” Kira said to Alex as they headed out of the courtroom. They still hadn’t gotten Charlie off yet, but they were getting there. Alex nodded back, looking more relaxed around her now. It was weird for her since he was physically older than she was and his team had been both before and after hers. Time travel also gave her a headache. But they had both started off with mutual respect and had managed to relax around each other now. “I just wish it was over.”

He smirked. “Considering that I keep checking in and there’s still nothing about the Headmistress of Rainbow Academy destroying SPD in an angry fit, I think we’re going to win.”

“Are you allowed to tell me that?” She asked. “What about the timeline?”

Alex just laughed. “I was worried about Wes and Eric actively affecting the time stream, but without trying they changed it six times and brought me back from the dead. I think trying to keep the timeline perfect has sailed. Besides, from what I know, you won’t change anything.”

“How can you be sure?” She asked. He motioned for her to join him as he sat down and she did. The two were quiet for a minute before he spoke up.

“Not every child of a Power Ranger becomes a Power Ranger,” he told her. “Mother was a Tech. My grandfather was a Secret Keeper. They were both excited when the invitation came for Rainbow Academy.”

“You said you went,” she acknowledged and he nodded. “I can’t believe it exists 1000 years in the future.”

“Believe it,” he said. “The fountain has a huge dolphin and mermaid intertwined. The Buses are always yellow. Security wears a patch of Operation Overdrive Black’s hammer. The term for finishing Team Cohesion is called “Getting your Rex”. And there are two huge rainbow pterodactyls on the gates leading into the school as well as a smaller yellow one in the Headmistress’ office.”

She gave a small smile at that. “It sounds nice,” she admitted.

“There have been hundreds of Power Rangers before I was born,” he said quietly. “I was kept out of the loop with Time Force. But I heard about so many adventures and Rangers. You have all been bigger than life.”

“Us?” Kira asked, blinking a bit. He nodded.

“Legends,” he admitted.

“So is meeting us a let down?” She teased.

“No,” he answered. “It’s a relief. The way things have been told, it’s like you weren’t even human. Now I know that I was living up the all of you instead of falling behind.”

Kira looked a little surprised and horrified by that. Like others, she knew that history tended to erase imperfections. It probably started off small, like no one wanting to talk poorly about a Power Ranger who had passed away. Later, it would have gotten worse and worse. “I stole my power source,” she admitted. Alex just looked at her.

“What?” He asked and she nodded.

“Tommy Oliver, my mentor, had the three of us in detention. He told us if we could find something prehistoric, he’d cancel detention for the rest of the week. We fell down into a hole, ended up in his basement, and took the three gems that were sitting there,” she said. He was just still staring. “It’s not our proudest moment.”

Alex was just quiet for a minute before he spoke up again. “I wasn’t expecting that,” he admitted. She shrugged.

“I don’t like talking about it, but you looked like you needed to hear it,” she said. “We’re just like you, Alex. Only we didn't go to an academy or have someone tell us we needed to work together who wasn't our mentor. And we had Doctor O, who was great, but who also helped create everything. It's a lot of pressure."

Alex was just staring at her. "So, you stole your gems to fight villains your mentor made?"

"Not our proudest moment," Kira said again. Alex's lips were starting to quiver a bit into a smile and she sighed. "Most teams have stories they aren't proud of, you know."

"I'm sorry," Alex said, trying to look apologetic. "It's just after years of hearing one thing..."

"I understand," she said. "I felt the same way when all of Doctor O's friends got us together to tell stories of when he was younger. It made all of our failures seems better. Like we were living up to our predecessors."

"Exactly," Alex said. He looked at the clock. "Are you ready to finish this?"

Kira took his hand. "Whenever you are," she assured him. They headed back in to the courtroom, heads held high. Kira met A-Squad's eyes and gave them a smile before sitting back down next to Alex.

Alex stood back up. "We've proven with Cadet Carson that the group was not in their right minds when they were sent out. Their auras were disrupted. While it's a shame it wasn't looked into before that, SPD had stated that they wouldn't have looked into anyway, something his commanding officer has apologized for. We ask that this be taken into account."

Seastra looked at him and then at the Supreme Chancellor. "The problem remains," she said. "That it is undecided whether or not these five are members of SPD or Power Rangers as both sides would react differently to them. I also find this makes it nearly impossible to give a direct verdict. Either way would be favoring one side or the other. Thus, during the break, I made a decision: There are six others that were of both sides: Jack Landors, Schulyer Tate, Sydney Drew, Elizabeth Delgado, Bridge Carson, and Anubis Cruger. Each of them were also affected by this team. Thus, I believe that they should vote on what to do. If it is a tie, we will discuss it further from there."

Alex looked at Kira, who nodded. "The Ranger side agrees."

"As does SPD's side," Birdie said. Seastra nodded.

"I will not ask anyone to make a decision now," she said. "It's a large responsibility and this is a very unusual trial."

"Your honor?" Sky said, standing up. She turned to look at him. "I can't speak for the rest of my team, but I can for myself. We've been here the entire time. I'd just like to get this over with."

The other members of B-Squad nodded in agreement as did Cruger. Kira leaned into Alex. "Is that a good sign?" She whispered.

"I'm not sure," he whispered back. The two waited patiently. Jack stood up next to Sky.

"And I'm not sure how much my vote should count," he answered. "I'm retiring from SPD and I won't be Ranger anymore."

"We need you," Sky said. Jack smiled and nodded, agreeing to joining them, but giving full command of the team to Sky. Kira glanced at Birdie to see his expression was starting to look doubtful. Kira's hope soared.

Seastra looked at him. "As Cadet Landors is retiring, Cadet Tate is the current leader of your team as well someone who seems to need to speak. Continue Cadet Tate."

Sky nodded. "Before the trial, I would have sided with SPD," he admitted. "I didn't take anything else into consideration, I was just angry. I went to Rainbow Academy. I took Team Cohesion. The fact that my former Headmistress didn't take back my diploma amazes me. We should have caught this. Not guilty."

Birdie's mouth dropped at that. Kira felt a pang of pride for her student. It had taken years, getting his own team, and getting berated by older Rangers for what he'd done, but Sky was finally a true Power Ranger. It took everything she had to keep herself from cheering and congratulating him. That still left five others though.

Seastra nodded. "Thank you, Cadet Tate. Cadet Carson?"

"Not Guilty," he answered easily. It was the most expected answer. She nodded.

"Cadet Drew?" She asked.

"Not guilty," she said quickly. "I'm sorry we didn't believe you, Bridge."

He just motioned that it wasn't a big deal. Seastra looked over at Z. "Cadet Delgado?"

"Not guilty," she said, looking at the rest of her team but especially Syd. "If they were hypnotized into it, then they can't be responsible for their actions. They lost their free will."

"Mr. Landors?"

"I agree with the others," he said. "Not guilty."

"Commander Cruger?" Seastra asked and there was silence. The vote was already for A-Squad, but if he agreed, then it would be unanimous and there wouldn't be a divide. Cruger paused and then looked up at the judge.

"Cadet Ford came to me before the trial and begged me to stop Headmistress Ford from helping," he said. Kira turned her gaze at Charlie who wouldn't look at her. "She insisted that she should be punished for everything that had been done. She didn't want to shame her mother. That, I believe, is the cadet I trained. Not guilty."

Kira absolutely pushed forward and screamed happily. She looked at the rest of the courtroom who seemed to be staring at her and sat back down as Alex put a hand on her shoulder. She couldn't help but to do a sitting version of her victory dance though. The judge looked over at Charlie and the other four. "It seems that for you being a Power Ranger is higher than being in SPD," she said. She looked over at the others. "That's something not only this court has found today, but also all of you. This will be a case where there may be a precedent in the future, but for today, I release the five defendants into Kira Ford's care. As she heads the school, she is responsible for them now."

The kids looked a little worried as they glanced at their teacher and Charlie slowly stood up. "What happens if we screw up again?" She asked. The rest of them looked just as curious.

"Then I will have to take your guardian to task as well," she answered and Charlie started to pale. She went to protest, when some other voices could be heard.

"It's fine for her to take command of Charlie, Mate, but we'll take Blue," Xander said, folding his arms as Madison and Chip both nodded. "We're teachers at the school too."

"Mat is my responsibility," Tyzonn promised. "That way, there's more people keeping an eye on them."

"If you don't mind," Casey said. "I'll help Tyson."

"We understand better than anyone how it feels to have right so many wrongs," Camille said, motioning to herself and Jarrod. "We'd like to watch over Yuki."

Jarrod nodded and stood at her side as both twins folded their arms. They looked ready to take on anyone who told them no and Kira could only hope that their adoptive parents had them under control today. The twins were joined by the several other students standing up. "Look," Scott said. "We didn't know them. They left before we got there, but Gem and Gemma and Kay have said before that they were great people and we believe her. So, we'll help too."

"Right," Flynn said. "Heroes stand up for heroes."

"And we won't let anyone tell us different," Summer agreed. She folded her arms and stood next to the two boys. Dillon shrugged.

"They're part of us," he said tentatively. Ziggy was practically bouncing.

"And they seem okay," he agreed. Seastra sighed.

"This is why I hate cases with Power Rangers," she said softly. "The entire populace gets involved."

Birdie glared at her. "You knew this?!" He demanded and she nodded once.

"Power Rangers are a planets saviors," she said quietly. "Usually, it's the planet that stands up for them. Earth, however, doesn't have that sort of force. So, it was thought that it wouldn't be the same. This is why it is a case of precedent. I see that we forgot how many Power Rangers there have been over the years. And if Mr. Drake is an example, yet to come."

He gave her a polite nod. "I apologize," he said. "I hadn't actually planned this."

"I know," she said. "You did your job admirably and I would have been worried about the state of the planet if I hadn't seen this. These five have a great many people who will be keeping an eye on them. I believe that to be better than sentencing them anyway. Before you say anything, Supreme Commander, I did not know which way they would go. They are both SPD and Rangers. They could have gone with either.

"Headmistress Ford, I must say that I'm happily surprised at how well your school is doing. The students are willing to help. From what I understand, the school was right behind you in terms of getting them back. You have help from all of the other Earth Rangers as well as taking advice from other World's teams. I applaud you."

"Thank you," she said. She wanted to say that she was drafted and didn't know what she was doing, but she was pretty sure the judge wouldn't believe her. Especially when all of them were standing right behind her in support. For all of the problems they had given her over the years, they were helping her now. And she had the support of the other teams she had fostered. They didn't know how Scott's team was going to be yet, but she knew they'd do fine. None of them were starting to feel the call and she was glad for that. After this, they could all use a break. "If you don't mind, I'd like to take our charges and go home."

The judge just nodded and made the sign for good-bye. Kira followed suit and turned to Supreme Commander Birdie. "I understand, I think, where you were coming from," she said, trying to be diplomatic. "But we're Power Rangers. We have to be there for each other."

"I can't understand that," Birdie answered. "But if you went through this trouble, maybe you can keep an eye on them. When they turn on you, however, feel free to call."

"I won't have to," Kira answered. She had to admit that that was probably the friendliest she'd ever get with that bird. She turned her attention to the rest of the court until she saw Cruger. She headed over to him and put out her hand. "I owe you one, Commander Cruger," she said politely. He took her hand and nodded. 

"I wouldn't have said it if it wasn't true," he answered. "Anything that went wrong was on my end. I should have noticed."

"Both of us should have," she agreed. "Next time, we will. That is, if you want to keep the partnership."

Cruger snorted. "I am a Ranger now," he reminded her. "And it has done well for both of us. Even if we're poaching."

"I'm going to kill Conner," Kira muttered. Cruger was just amused and laughed.

"I look forward to the students you send," he said. She nodded. “And toward keeping in contact.”

"Same here, Commander."

"Doggie," he said and she blinked. "I've known you for over five years. I think we can use first names."

"Kira then," she said. Maybe before this, they'd worked together when they could and the fact that he'd been upset with the decision not to contact her had helped her with wanting to work with him more, but now they were similar to her and Cam. Not nearly as close, of course, as Kira was a civilian Ranger and Cruger was military. She turned to the others. "You should get back to SPD."

Sky reached out a hand. "Headmistress Ford?" He said. "We're sorry."

"I know," she said, taking his hand. "And you're forgiven. But Conner's class is important. There's a reason it's mandatory and there's a reason he teaches it."

"Because he's your old teammate?" Syd asked and Kira shook her head.

"Because I knew I could trust him to do it. We messed up too. All teams do. But that's why you need to listen when we're telling you things. We've all been there and we know what can go wrong. So come and talk to us. We want to help," she said. "I'll talk to you all more later. Right now..."

Sky nodded. "Got it," he said, looking over at Charlie's group. "Let them know we're keeping an eye on them too."

"I will," she promised and headed over. The courtroom was mostly empty by this point and even the other Rangers who had promised to help were stepping back for the moment. Kira looked at each of them in turn before settling on Charlie. "That was intense."

"I am so sorry," Charlie said. Kira nodded a bit.

"What Commander Cruger said...?" Kira asked.

"I couldn't drag you down with us," Charlie said quietly. Kira pulled her to her.

"Charlie," she said. "Never feel that way again. I will always be there. Always."

"I know," Charlie said, tears starting to fall. Kira held her tighter. "I didn't want you to have trouble with parents or the students..."

Kira pulled her back gently and looked her in the eye. "When Cole brought you, I became responsible for you. Everything you did, I had to take blame for and I've never regretted any of it, Charlie. You took my last name. You're my daughter! We don't turn our back on family!"

"Kir... Mom..." She whispered and Kira pulled her back to her and let her cry while looking at the others.

"And that goes for the lot of you," she said sternly. "There's been a lot of people worried about you. Tyson, call your mother when you get out of here."

"Yes, Ma'am," he said quietly.

"The rest of you, you're coming back with us," she said sternly. "We'll figure things out tomorrow. But I know you need us now."

The rest of the day went quietly. They led the students back to the school and Kira wasn't surprised to see that the other Rangers had followed her. So, when Alex came over to her, she probably should have remembered that he hadn't left yet. He was glancing around with a slight smile on his face. She looked at him. "Not what you were expecting?" She asked.

"It's different in the future," he agreed. "But it's a good start."

"Thanks, Alex," she said. "For everything."

He nodded and when she pulled him into a hug, he accepted it before letting her go. "Your hugs are a lot less painful that Katie's," he mentioned. Kira grinned. 

"She has super strength. My power works for what I have to do," she said. He nodded.

"Can I ask you a question?" He asked and she nodded. "Why did you decide to be Headmistress?"

Kira looked at him and then laughed. "I didn't decide anything," she said. "I was drafted."

He just blinked. "What?"

"It was Andros' engagement party and we were talking with some of the other Rangers. Conner mentioned that having a mentor who had been a Ranger at one point is great. The others latched onto it and decided that a school was a good idea. The official decision is it's Doctor O... Tommy Oliver's fault because it usually is. My decision is it's Conner's. But they started making plans, I tried to slow them down, and Tori had the terrible job of telling me that they'd elected me behind my back. I drafted Conner, but Ethan and Trent took off for New York so that I couldn't do the same to them."

"I see," Alex said. "I wasn't expecting that."

"Why would you?" She asked. "I wouldn't have either."

"What about the rest of the staff?" He asked, sounding equal parts worried and curious.

"Conner was drafted right after because he got me into that mess and had to drive me to each of the places. Team Cohesion was what I put him in charge of because I knew he could do it. I then went and stole Tori from Cam. Which yes, it how he refers to it. We're friends, we talk often, and he's still upset about me taking Tori and later Dustin. I left him Shane. Then we convinced Madison to be the nurse because she was the only one who could heal. I went out with Conner and we got Will. I wanted Will because of his powers and the fact that he was a former spy. He sent Ronny my way and she agreed to drive the 'bus'," she explained. She smiled softly. "They were great choices."

Alex nodded. "Thank you," he said. "I still have a lot to get over, but what you told both groups today, I'm taking to heart as well."

"Have you made up with Wes and Eric?" She asked. He nodded. "Good. I know I'll probably never see you again, but it's been an honor."

"It has for me as well," Alex said.

"Take care of yourself and your team, Alex. And if I hear you're screwing up with Team Cohesion again, I'm sending Conner to the future. I'll find a way," she said.

"I believe you, Kira," Alex said with a grin. It faded a bit. "Good-bye, Headmistress Ford."

"Good-bye, Commander Drake," she said just as softly and watched him walk off. She headed back and knocked on Charlie's door. "Charlie?" There wasn't an answer. Kira sighed and headed out and up on the roof. "You're kinda supposed to tell me when you do this now."

"Sorry," she answered quietly. "Kira? What happens now?"

"We keep everything going until it settles down and we figure out what to do from there," she answered. "I'm not sure you can ever be an active Ranger again."

"I can live with that," she said honestly. There was silence between them for a minute before she spoke up again. "Do you think Tommy is mad at me?" She asked. Kira shook her head.

"I think he and Trent understand better than the rest of us do," she answered. "It's okay, Charlie."

"I did horrible things," Charlie said. "How do I deal with that?"

"That's something that all of you are going to be talking to some of the other Rangers with. This kind of thing happens. You know that," she said firmly. "And we'll help all of you through it. How are the others?"

"Blue wants to go back to Briarwood. Mat just seems quiet. Tyson wants to spend time with his mom. And Yuki wants Jarrod and Camille, but she won't admit it because of the twins," she answered.

"We'll make sure that they get what they need too," she assured her.

"What if they don't want to be together anymore?" Charlie asked and Kira hugged her again.

"We'll figure that out when it happens," she promised. "As a family. I promise you."


	24. Epilogue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everything comes to a close.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for staying with me while I finished this story. I did enjoy writing it, even if it got away from me at times and things shifted and changed and it was a lot longer than I meant for it to be. It means a lot to me that I had people wanting to read it. Thank you so much.

Fortunately, everything that happened had brought A-Squad closer together and B-Squad had quickly joined in. It wasn't a blending really, but more like cousins. She'd found Syd and Yuki talking about losing their freewill. Sky had offered to spare with Charlie. Jack showed up and spoke with Mat every so often. Tyson and Bridge talked together about single mothers and growing up. Finally Bridge had taken to Blue who didn't seem to mind even if he couldn't stand toast. The connections that were enforced weren't just from the school, but from older Rangers as well.

Tommy had grabbed every formerly evil Ranger, the five A-Squad members, and enough junk food to feed an army. Kira tried to find out what they'd talked about, but Tommy wouldn't tell her, Trent just smiled secretively, and Charlie said that they'd been sworn to secrecy so stop asking. Regardless, it did seem to help and the meetings were often. Lightspeed had come and asked her for some of her out-going techs since they were losing some of their older ones due to retirement. Zhane had mentioned that off-world organizations were interested too causing Kira to be even more busy as the years went by.

RPM's group went off without a hitch as an old program that Kay had started when she was a child reared its ugly head. They did, of course, win and Kira was more than a little proud of all of them. Cam had mentioned to her that he'd looked over the program once they'd won and the outcome might have been different if they hadn't gotten Kay and the children out so long ago. That alone was worth creating the school 

Today, however, she was going to see all of her students again. Sky had already grabbed Jack and was milling around the school with the rest of his team. Antonio had brought his own team and was showing them around. She was amused by the surprised look on their mentor's face at all of it and was pleased to see both of the Red Rangers for that team there. Scott had come in, looking proud in his Air Force uniform. She knew that Taylor grudgingly bragged about her protege. Summer looked wonderful in a new suit as she had taken over the family business and was chatting with Mack about something or another. She'd ask Trent about it later. Flynn was hanging around Chip as the two were excitedly sharing stories about Rangering. Ziggy was entertaining some of the newer students while Tenaya and Dillion watched in amusement. Kay was next to her father, both of them just watching everyone. It was just five people she was waiting on. It was fine. They still had a few more hours to get there.

***

It had been a long night. It had also been one that every member of his family had advised him against doing. That said, Blue felt a need to do his job properly and not to ruin the trust of people counting on him. This was why his alarm had gone off twice and he hadn't woken. Something leaped on to the bed and the world was moving. Blue looked up as Zuzu, Leelee and Phineas' daughter was shaking him. "I'm trying to sleep," he muttered. "I don't have any jobs today."

"Except for the big one! The one you've had on your calendar for a long time! That day!" She said with a bit of complaint in her voice. She sounded pretty upset so Blue woke up and looked at her. "It's today!"

Blue blinked, his mind fuzzy and struggling to remember. After a second, he sat up in remembrance, his eyes widened as he looked at a clock. He was on his feet, turning around to help Zuzu up from where he knocked her over, and out the door within seconds. He ran into Vida who looked at him in amusement. "I'm supposed to let you handle yourself," she informed him. "So don't tell Maddie about this."

She used magic to get him in the proper clothes as he realized that he hadn't paid attention to that. He looked at her sheepishly. "Thanks, V," he said.

"It'd be an embarrassment to Briarwood if their mayor showed up in his pajamas," she said with a grin. "We told you not to stay up all night."

“I just needed to look over a few more things for reform...” he started but she cut him off.

“I'm pretty sure all of Briarwood would have told you what I'm telling you: Enjoy your vacation,” she said sternly.

"Thanks," he said, taking it to heart. He stood as tall as he could and sighed as they headed toward the tree. "It'd be easier if we just used one of the buses."

"Kira was insistent," she said. "And since it's her big day, we're doing what she wants. Now, let's go."

Vida opened the tree and the two walked through.

***

Tyson wasn't even sure why they needed a wardrobe like this to practice Pai Zhuq, but Theo would know more about it than him. Maybe they did the animal thing and burst through it or something. Even after years of being around R.J. and Casey, not to mention Theo and Lily, he didn't understand it at all. When he'd first met Dom and Fran, the latter had assured him that she didn't really get it either and encouraged him to have some pizza. At the moment, Tyson finished with the wardrobe and helped Theo move a couple boxes. "Thanks for the help, Tyson," Theo said. "Lily said she'd be here, but..."

"That's Lily," Tyson answered. "Don't worry about it. I'm just happy I was here. The school looks great, by the way. You're doing a great job with it."

"I just wish you'd joined up when we offered," he said. Tyson smiled.

"One of us needed a normal job," he answered. "I chose me."

"None of you are normal," Theo said. He wished he could tell if the older man was teasing or not, but he did have a point. That said, he'd gone in a direction that he'd been thinking about since everything had happened to him in his Power Ranger career. Something that Theo both understood and lamented.

"Theo! Tyson!" R.J. called for them from the courtyard. They headed back out the door where R.J. was waiting. R.J. handed Tyson a card. “It fell out when you came here.”

“Thanks, R.J.,” he said honestly. “I brought it for Nancy.”

Theo looked concerned. “Is she still having trouble?”

Tyson shook his head. “We fixed her problem, but now her roommate is having trouble with their ex. So, she thought maybe I could give her some advice.”

Theo sighed. “Maybe it's a good thing you didn't take me up on it,” he muttered. R.J. and Tyson shared a grin at that as Tyson pocketed the card for later. Right now, he had something else to do. He'd be a lawyer again tomorrow.

***

Tyzonn had waited until the probation for A-Squad had lessened before he took off. He had retired and to no one's surprise, Mat had gone with him, traveling to other planets and just not feeling as cooped up as he had before. The two had done a good job in bringing Earth into the Intergalactic fold and ensured that there should be fewer problems later. They'd also helped out Kira in visiting and talking with other organizations who were interested in allying with Rainbow Academy. The two of them had turned out to make a good team and had slowly formed their own team of misfits rescuers to help with bringing the galaxy together. For Tyzonn, it felt like coming home. For Mat, it was like finally having a home.

That said, when he walked into the courtyard and looked at all of the students, the larger classrooms, the fact that it was beginning to look more like an academy and less like them throwing something together and calling it a school, it was definitely worth having come back. He felt Tyzonn's hand on his shoulder and felt young again. "Somethings don't change," Mat said.

Tyzonn smiled. "We're here because they do," he answered, grinning as Ronny was running up to them.

"Welcome back," she said to both of them, pulling them into quick hugs. "You're the first ones back."

"We beat out Blue and Yuki?" Mat asked and she laughed.

"Well, not Yuki," she said. "But Blue overslept."

He burst into laughter as Tyzonn snickered. Tyzonn moved to Ronny's side as Mat joined them, talking about what had been going on.

***

Yuki moved quickly to snatch the device out of Gemma's hand. She glared at her and reached for it, but Yuki snorted. "You're not getting it back," she said. "I've talked to Scott."

"Scott exaggerates," she pouted. He really didn't. As it turned out, having twins that were little better than pyromaniacs wasn't something that just went away. She looked over at Camille.

"And you thought they'd outgrow it," she accused. Camille sighed.

"I hoped," she admitted. She looked at Gemma. "No explosives in the house."

"We're adults now," Gemma said.

"It's still the school's rules," Camille fought back. "And mine."

Gemma sighed as Gem came in. "No explosives," she told him sadly. He looked just as upset for a moment before they both became their trademark cheerful selves once again. Gem looked at Yuki.

"Are you ready?" He asked. She nodded.

"As I'll ever be," she answered. She felt hands on her shoulders and jumped a bit to see Jarrod smiling down at her.

"You'll be great," he promised. "I couldn't ask for a better replacement."

"I'm not a replacement," she argued. "I'm just... filling in."

Jarrod smiled. "You can call it what you want," he said. Once he'd changed, he'd become far more humble, but every once in a while the lion within took over. He looked at his family. "We should get out there."

"You just want to retire," Camille accused, giving him a quick kiss.

"It's not my fault you still want to teach them," he argued. Yuki gently pushed them forward before grabbing each twin by the arm out of habit. Even being in their late twenties, she found that they just let her do it. Yuki joined the rest of her family in greeting and getting ready for the main event.

***

Kira stared out at the rest of the school from her office. It was starting to fill up faster than she'd thought, but she'd wanted to just take a minute. It wasn't long before she found the others by her side. Conner was first, leaning against the wall. The grey in his hair still didn't stop him from looking ready to take on the world anymore than the white in hers stopped her. She was quiet for a minute as she realized just how long it had been since they were racing around and fighting evil. "Hey," he said. "It's almost time."

"It is," she said heading over to him and leaning against him. "It doesn't seem very long ago, does it?"

"Sure it does," he said, feeling the need to ruin the moment. As always. "Did you know that one of the newest kids has super speed? Ronny and I tried to race them, but they won way too easily. We're old, Kira."

"You're not helping, Conner," she said.

"Haven't helped in over thirty years," he reminded her. "Why would I help now?"

She sighed and looked over at the door. "I can count on you at least."

Tori smiled as she headed in, nudging Conner who gave her a grin in return. "I'm going to miss it here."

"You too?" Conner asked. "I'm just hoping that Team Cohesion works after I'm gone. Though after the B-Squad fiasco..."

"You need to let that go," Tori said. "We have kids graduating all the time and only one that apparently didn't get the memo they were supposed to work together. I'm just glad we're getting out of here now."

"You mean before half of our 'family's' kids and grandkids show up?" Will asked as he walked in and sat next to Kira. She just smiled down at him. "You're not the only one glad about that."

"I'm going to miss driving them," Ronny said as she headed into the room. "Tyzonn and Mat are back, by the way, I sent them down to the teachers. And then I came back up here. To complain."

"We're retiring, Ronny," Kira said. "I can't send you to go get people when we're retiring."

"You're making it sound like Kira forced you to retire," Tori scolded. "We all agreed we want to leave at the same time."

"I've wanted this for several years now," Madison said. "Xander and Chip were waiting for me to decide, but we're ready to go back to Briarwood."

Kira nodded. "We're all ready to go home," she said. "Where ever that may be."

"I am looking forward to fighting with Ethan and Trent again," Conner said happily. "And coming here and bothering everyone new."

"Leave them alone, Conner," Kira said firmly.

"What about the new Headmistress?" He asked. "Can I bother her?"

Kira sighed. "Fine. "But I'm not responsible when she kicks you for it."

Conner just grinned and looked at the others. "What about you guys?"

"I'm heading home to the Wind Academy," Tori answered. "Dustin went back already and they've been trying to get me to come home for about four years now. Cam quietly even promised that I didn't have to be a Sensei. I think he has Empty Nest Syndrome. Not that I'll tell him that."

"I will!" Conner said cheerfully and Tori rolled her eyes.

"That's why you're not allowed there," she answered. He just grinned.

Ronny sighed. "I'm going to go to Mack and see what he needs help with," she said. "I miss Mack, Dax, and Rose."

"Thanks," Will said. She grinned at him.

"I see you too much," she teased.

"What about you, Will?" Kira asked before it could become a fight. He was quiet for a minute and Conner gave him a reassuring nod.

"I was thinking that you guys might need another roommate," he said. She blinked. "Unlike the rest of you, I don't have a home. I guess I could go with Ronny, but I'd feel like something was off all the time."

Kira smiled a bit. "You've been keeping an eye on me too long?" She asked.

"It's either I move in or I become your creepy neighbor down the street," he answered. Conner looked at Kira.

"We already started to look at properties if you say no," he said. She glared at him.

"How did you know about this?" She asked.

"Will is my friend too," he reminded her.

She nodded and looked at him. "Ethan and Trent can be pains," she warned him. "And you know Conner. Are you sure about this?"

He nodded. "Would I have said anything if I wasn't?" He asked.

She smiled. "You're right," she admitted. "Okay. I'm sure the guys are already rigging up a room for you. So, when we get there, welcome home."

He gave her a nod as Tori looked outside. "I think it's time," she said softly.

They stood up and looked around Kira's office one last time. Kira wondered if the yellow that covered everything would be painted differently afterward. Regardless, it wasn't up for her to decide. She'd find out later. She looked at her team, the third that she'd had in her life. She'd been with these people for years now. "Promise me," she said. "That we'll stay in touch."

Tori was the one who answered for them. "You'll be sick of us," she promised. Kira nodded and they headed out.

***

Kira headed over to the podium. She could see all of the Rangers looking toward her. She watched as the Techs stopped chatting at each other and looked over. Several mentors were helping to control the newer students, while Cassidy led the support with all of those in the know. She couldn't look at every student, that wouldn't have been feasible, but she did note that she was proud of her legacy. She was joined there by Charlie, looking far older than she had back in her Ranger Days. "Are you ready?" Kira asked.

"How did I let you talk me into this?" Charlie asked.

"You wanted a way to prove that you weren't evil and that you were better now," she said. "I found one."

"This isn't what I meant and you know it," Charlie said, though she didn't really mean it. Kira knew it too. The two of them were both in agreement that this was the best idea for everyone. Kira motioned toward the crowd.

"They're not going to be quiet for long," Kira teased. "And besides, being drafted is a tradition."

"There's been two of us and you tricked me," Charlie reminded her.

"You'll do the same to the next one," Kira assured her. "And you'll feel like that makes up for most of what you went through."

"Not making me feel better about this," Charlie said. "But, for what it's worth, thank you. For everything."

"You're welcome," Kira said. "I love you."

"Yeah, you've said that before," Charlie said with a slight grin. Kira accepted it. They looked at the podium and Kira took the stage. It surprised her that they actually quieted down a bit. She wasn't sure they'd ever done that before when she needed them to.

"You know why we're here," she said and most of them laughed. "So let's get to it. I'm ready to retire. I've been trying to keep an eye on you since my supposed friends drafted me back in the late 2000s. It's time for me to pass on the mantle. So, I found someone who I believe can do even better than I can."

"You're not giving yourself enough credit!"

"You did great!"

"It like totally didn't fail!"

"Thank you for those encouraging remarks," Kira said, glaring at the last one. "Anyway, I'm passing it on to Charlie Ford. I'd say listen to her like you did to me, but you never listened to me."

There was laughter again as Charlie took the stand as well as applause. "Thank you," she said. "I'm looking forward to see what we can do and improve. But before we talk about that, we need to say good-bye to the old staff who are unfortunately retiring with Headmistress Ford: Deputy Headmistress Hanson; our nurse, Ms. Rocca; our bus driver, Ms. Robinson; our head of security, Mr. Aston; and our teacher for Team Cohesion and all around counselor, Mr. McKnight."

There was a roaring applause which even surprised the people standing there. Charlie turned and looked at them. "We can't thank you enough," she said. "And the new teacher for Team Cohesion promised me that he'd carry on just being there for the students, Mr. McKnight."

Conner grinned. "Good," he said. Charlie gave each of them a bow of her head before she turned back to the podium. 

“Let's continue toward a better future!” She finished and the crowd went mad. She gave a nod and joined the former teachers as they headed into the chaos. Kira found Trent and Ethan both grabbing one side of her before she could greet them.

"So," Ethan said. "Are we getting a new roommate?"

"Why do you guys learn everything before me?" She snapped.

"Because Will wanted our help convincing you," Trent answered. "And we think its a good idea."

"You do realize I don't need a bodyguard," Kira said.

Ethan rolled his eyes. "We know," he said. "But having someone who can hear and see things further off? How is the not an advantage?"

"And you did upset a lot of people over the years," Trent said. "Besides, he just need a place to be."

Kira sighed. "I already said yes," she reassured them. "I'm just annoyed that you guys did it behind my back."

"Teams are hard to live with," Conner agreed as he dove into the group. "Really hard to deal with."

“You're the hardest to deal with!” Kira said.

“I'm your favorite and you know it,” he teased. Kira rolled her eyes as she looked over to see Tori happily chatting with the rest of Ninja Storm. She gave her a quick wave, but Kira wasn't about to interrupt. They hadn't been together like that in years. Ronny and Will were catching up with Operation Overdrive while Madison was with the rest of Mystic Force and doting on Blue who was putting up with it. Charlie was near Mat, teasing him about something while Yuki simultaneously tried to break them up and keep an eye on her siblings. Tyson was making his way over to them, head held high. 

Kira just felt a hand on her shoulder and met her own mentor's eyes looking back at her. "You've done a good job, Kira," Tommy said. "I'm proud of you."

"Thanks, Doctor O," she said. He sighed.

"It's been over twenty years," he said. "You can't call me Tommy?"

"Nope," Conner said.

"Never going to happen," Ethan said.

"Sorry, Doctor O," Trent agreed. Tommy just sighed. Kira stretched.

"I'm ready to go home," she admitted. She looked over at Operation Overdrive and didn't raise her voice. "We're going home. You can catch up later if you want."

Will looked at his friends and gave them a wave before heading over to Kira's group. "I don't know the way," he reminded her. Tommy raised an eyebrow, but didn't ask. Ethan laughed and quickly gave him directions so that he could spend time with his other team for a bit. Will nodded and looked at Kira.

“Stay out of trouble for today,” he warned.

“I don't need a bodyguard,” she said.

“I'm asking as a friend,” he said. Conner grinned.

“And as a member of the family,” he corrected. Will shrugged.

“And that,” he agreed. He nudged Conner. “You stay out of trouble too.”

“See you tonight, Will,” Conner said, ignoring the implication. Will just rolled his eyes and headed back to his first team to celebrate. Kira knew he'd be home by dinner. She stepped toward the entrance with her family and looked back for a minute, taking it all in. And with the school in new hands that she could trust, her students doing work that she was proud of, and her team at her side, Kira finally headed home without a smidge of regret.


End file.
